Strategy to Build a Strong Military Through Reform

At a meeting of the Central Military Commission (CMC) on military reform on November 24, 2015, Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of implementing a reform strategy to build a strong military by taking a distinctly Chinese approach. 

In response to the needs in a modern context, defense and military reform are key to building a strong military, and will shape the future of the military. The objective of reform is to modernize China's armed forces so as to enable them to answer the call of duty and win a war in a digital age. Measures will be taken to improve the military institutional infrastructure, in order to provide a sound basis for building a world-class military. Expected results include a markedly strengthened leadership and joint operational command chain, an optimally adjusted scale and structure, an improved policy-making process, and enhanced civil-military integration.

Major areas of reform include: 

– building a structure with the CMC providing overall guidance and direction, theater commands responsible for theater-level combat operations, and individual military services focused on their specialized combat capability and readiness; 

– designing an effective oversight system to prevent any abuse of power;

– shifting from reliance on the size of the military to a focus on quality and efficiency; 

– identifying and tapping new potential for warfare capability improvement and force multiplication; 

– pursuing institutional reform and policy innovation in talent and human resources development; and 

– integrating economic development with defense needs.

改革強(qiáng)軍戰(zhàn)略

2015年11月24日，習(xí)近平在中央軍委改革工作會(huì)議上提出全面實(shí)施改革強(qiáng)軍戰(zhàn)略，堅(jiān)定不移走中國(guó)特色強(qiáng)軍之路的要求。深化國(guó)防和軍隊(duì)改革，是實(shí)現(xiàn)中國(guó)夢(mèng)強(qiáng)軍夢(mèng)的時(shí)代要求，是強(qiáng)軍興軍的必由之路，也是決定軍隊(duì)未來(lái)的關(guān)鍵一招。改革的目標(biāo)就是構(gòu)建能夠打贏信息化戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)、有效履行使命任務(wù)的中國(guó)特色現(xiàn)代軍事力量體系，使中國(guó)特色社會(huì)主義軍事制度更加成熟、更加定型，為實(shí)現(xiàn)強(qiáng)軍目標(biāo)、建設(shè)世界一流軍隊(duì)打下更為扎實(shí)的前進(jìn)基礎(chǔ)。改革的成果標(biāo)志，就是在領(lǐng)導(dǎo)管理體制、聯(lián)合作戰(zhàn)指揮體制改革上取得突破性進(jìn)展，在優(yōu)化規(guī)模結(jié)構(gòu)和力量編成、完善政策制度、推動(dòng)軍民融合發(fā)展等方面改革上取得重要成果。改革的六方面舉措包括：一是形成軍委管總、戰(zhàn)區(qū)主戰(zhàn)、軍種主建的格局；二是構(gòu)建嚴(yán)密的權(quán)力運(yùn)行制約和監(jiān)督體系；三是推動(dòng)人民解放軍由數(shù)量規(guī)模型向質(zhì)量效能型轉(zhuǎn)變；四是培育軍隊(duì)?wèi)?zhàn)斗力新的增長(zhǎng)點(diǎn)；五是推動(dòng)人才發(fā)展體制改革和政策創(chuàng)新；六是推動(dòng)經(jīng)濟(jì)建設(shè)和國(guó)防建設(shè)融合發(fā)展。