New | China vows to speed up military overhauls in bid to build up 'modern army'
Plan sets 2020 goal for progress in building modern armed forces
The ruling Communist Party will speed up overhauls of the military's hardware and software, state media reported yesterday, adding it aimed to reach its reform target by 2020.
The pledge was contained in a communiqué issued nearly a week after the party's Central Committee met to decide on the 13th five-year plan.
The People's Liberation Army would make significant progress towards "mechanisation and informatisation" by 2020, and build a system capable of "winning an informationised war and effectively fulfilling the mandated mission of building modern military strength with Chinese characteristics", Xinhua reported.
Beijing-based retired major general Xu Guangyu said the five-year plan suggested that the PLA would make some big changes in personnel and streamline some parts of the military's structure.
"It's impossible for the whole PLA to become a modern army like those in the West by 2020, especially in hardware and personnel training. These will take time to improve," Xu said.
"The top priorities should be to reshuffle personnel and restructure systems to cut the complexity of the PLA's existing bulky organisation."
President Xi Jinping announced on September 3 that the military would shed 300,000 personnel in the first big step towards streamlining the world's biggest army.
