Focus on combat readiness, Xi tells PLA

Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission as well as general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and president, inspects the CMC Joint Command Headquarters in Beijing on Friday. LI GANG / XINHUA

Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission, urged the People's Liberation Army on Friday to concentrate all of its attention on honing combat capabilities to make sure it can win wars.

Xi, also the Chinese president, gave the instruction on an inspection visit to the CMC Joint Command Headquarters in Beijing. He is also the commander-in-chief of the headquarters, which is the Chinese military's highest operational brain.

Xi said China is at a crucial stage in its path toward being a world power and is facing a bright future as well as many challenges. Military capabilities are of strategic importance in safeguarding national security, he added.

"My visit this time is to show the Central Military Commission's distinct orientation of combat readiness," he said.

"The troops must strengthen the senses of crisis and war, and spare no efforts to improve combat readiness," he said, ordering the military to prepare itself for emergencies from any direction.

The chairman told members of the PLA to carry out more research on fighting operations, possible adversaries as well as battlefield conditions, to boost joint command skills and to make exercises more realistic and closer to real war scenarios. He also said they should be innovative and creative when making plans for operations.

He stressed that high-ranking officers must maintain an awareness of war and keep improving their personal abilities. They should take the lead in training and drills and should strive to resolve obstacles and problems in their unit that hinder combat readiness.

He also had teleconferences with troops of border defense units and the Djibouti Logistics Support Base, the PLA's first overseas establishment. He told members of the Djibouti logistics base to gain a good reputation for Chinese soldiers and to contribute to regional peace and stability.

A news release published by the military on Friday said the visit shows the "staunch stance" of the new CMC in following missions set by the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and in enhancing the PLA's combat capability.

In his report to the congress, Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, pledged to make sure that by 2020, the PLA will basically achieve its mechanization, take big strides in informatization and make substantial improvements in strategic capabilities. He vowed to turn the PLA into a modernized force by 2035, and a top-tier military by 2050.

Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission as well as general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and president, inspects the CMC Joint Command Headquarters in Beijing on Friday.