2015年CRI Reform Aimed at More Professional Troops

Following a 3-day meeting among the top brass 1 of the PLA this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is also the head of the Central Military Commission, has announced a series of planned changes for the organizational structure of the Chinese military.

Among the changes will be the creation of separate commands for the separate military divisions, including the Army, the Navy, the Airforce and the Strategic Rocket forces.

A general command center for land forces is also being set up, while the current regional military commands will be regrouped into larger "theater" commands.

A three-tier command system is also being set up, with the Central Military Commission at the top, followed by the theater commands who will dictate 2 orders to individual combat units.

And at the same time, the Central Military Commission will run a new administration system to cover various services for PLA troops, such as payments, pensions and other veterans’ services.

Zhao Xiaozhuo with Chinese Academy of Military Sciences says the moves should help clear-up a lot of the bureaucracy which exists within the PLA.

"These reforms are meant to adjust the constitution of the armed forces, as well as the composition of the personnel structure. In particular, the proportion of administrative 3 personnel, as well as non-combat personnel, will be cut down. This will create more space for combat personnel. The reform plans also include plans to transform the soldiers into a more elite 4 force."

The current structure of the Chinese military takes its roots from the initial formation of the People's Republic in 1949.

Back then, the military was built-up with the distinct goal of repelling 5 a large-scale invasion and taking part in a mechanized war.

That began changing in the mid 6 1980's when the Chinese military began upgrading its technology to deal with the realities of more modern warfare 7 scenarios 8.

But Zhao Xiaozhuo with the Academy of Military Sciences says the organizational structure hasn't really kept up with the times.

"In recent years, China's armament and military science and technology have developed very quickly, as has the training for our soldiers. Yet, the organizational system is still relatively 9 backward. The current system was developed basically in the 1980s and hasn't really changed over the past 30 years. However, the international situation, as well as the internal requirements in China for the armed forces has changed dramatically. So I think it makes sense to bring in reforms to the organizational structure of the military."

Also among the reforms are plans to divest 10 the military out of non-core areas.

While the military has been banned from commercial ventures in China since the late 1990's, the PLA does still have non-military components 11, including hospitals around the country which are for-profit ventures open to the public.

In announcing the planned changes, the Chinese Ministry 12 of Defense 13 says it also plans to provide more support to military personnel who may find themselves shuffled-out as a result of the reforms.

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans to cut 300-thousand from the PLA ranks during this year's event to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

For CRI, I'm Luo Wen.