BEIJING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) — The Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution in Beijing has acquired numerous guests this summer time. In the exhibition corridor, younger kids may very well be seen gathering round a show case containing a rusty bolt-action rifle.
Known as Hanyang Zao, which means Made-in-Hanyang, this rifle was used within the Nanchang Uprising led by the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Aug. 1, 1927, a day now remembered because the founding day of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Over 8,000 km away, in the meantime, China’s J-35A stealth fighter was a celebrity on the 2025 Paris Air Show. This home-developed Chinese fighter jet manifests the rising fight capabilities and technological prowess of the PLA.
The 12 months 2025 marks the 98th anniversary of the PLA’s founding. Just as China’s weaponry has seen exceptional evolution over time, the Chinese army has additionally repeatedly strengthened itself by reinforcing the primacy of political steerage and advancing complete reforms. Notably, important progress has been made on this regard over the previous decade.
ENHANCING POLITICAL LOYALTY
“Without the unprecedented reinforcement of political work, the great changes that took place in the people’s military in the new era wouldn’t have been possible,” Chinese President Xi Jinping mentioned at a high-level army convention in June 2024.
This assembly happened in Yan’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, a metropolis of utmost significance within the historical past of China’s revolution. Before the assembly, Xi, additionally common secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), led senior army officers to go to the revolutionary relics at Wangjiaping, the place the Party’s army headquarters had been stationed from August 1937 to March 1947.
At the convention, Xi careworn that political work is at all times the lifeline of the nation’s army, the armed forces should at all times be led by those that are dependable and dependable to the Party, and there have to be no place for corruption inside the army.
These remarks echoed an analogous 2014 assembly in Gutian, Fujian Province, the place Xi convened a army political work convention amid efforts to sharpen combating capability and curb corruption.
Gutian was a traditionally important township, the place the landmark 1929 assembly was held to ascertain the Party’s absolute management over the armed forces, or “the Party commands the gun” in brief.
At the convention in 2014, Xi reiterated that this precept shall at all times be firmly upheld.
In the next decade, Xi’s ideas on strengthening the army have been extensively carried out, bringing better unity in thought and firmness in motion.
At the identical time, corruption is being rooted out, loyalty is being strengthened, and unhealthy practices are being corrected to solidify the muse for future victories.
Recently, the CMC issued new rules on strengthening political work, aiming to uphold the army’s wonderful traditions, eradicate the lingering affect of corrupt officers, and restore picture.
As observers famous, with out sturdy army capabilities, a military could fall earlier than its enemies; and with out agency political dedication, it might collapse from inside.
MILITARY REFORM CONTINUES
It has been 10 years since China deepened its reforms of nationwide protection and the armed forces. A decade in the past, Xi ordered the reorganization of the army administration construction and army command system, and the constructing of an environment friendly, trendy army able to succeeding in information-age warfare.
Thanks to this reform initiative, troop numbers had been decreased by 300,000. This reduce marked a historic shift, as Army personnel dropped under 50 % of the entire for the primary time, non-combat unit staffing was virtually halved, and officer numbers fell by 30 %.
This reform effort additionally created new front-line fight items — equivalent to mixed arms brigades, air assault brigades and plane service battle teams.
Military reform has considerably enhanced operational capabilities. The Army has develop into quicker and simpler at combating in varied environments, whereas the Navy has expanded its defensive attain from near-seas to open oceans. The Air Force has built-in air and house domains, and the Rocket Force has strengthened each its nuclear and standard deterrents.
Observers mentioned the PLA is now leaner, higher organized and structurally optimized — essentially altering its long-standing land-based warfare drive construction. The command chain of the Chinese army has additionally develop into more and more streamlined, whereas drive projection has grown ever extra environment friendly.
Reform efforts stay ongoing. In April 2024, the Information Support Force was established, changing a earlier construction — a transfer that underscores the PLA’s intensified concentrate on reaching knowledge dominance.
These efforts might be on full show on Sept. 3, when China holds a army parade to mark the eightieth anniversary of the victory within the Chinese People’s War of Resistance in opposition to Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
Alongside the most recent technology of typical weapons, the parade will function unmanned clever techniques, underwater fight items, cyber and digital forces, and hypersonic weapons — highlighting the PLA’s rising capability to harness rising applied sciences, adapt to the evolving character of warfare, and put together to prevail in future conflicts.
The Chinese army has at all times been a staunch drive for upholding world peace, and Chinese troops with UN peacekeeping expertise will take part within the parade, Wu Zeke, a senior officer of the CMC Joint Staff Department, advised a press convention in June.
“This arrangement not only highlights China’s solemn commemoration of the victory in the war, but also demonstrates the country’s commitment to fulfilling international obligations and safeguarding world peace,” Wu famous.