Unveiling the 'Technical Standards for New Civilian Ships to Implement National Defense Requirements', the China Classification Society said the plan will "enable China to convert the considerable potential of its civilian fleet into military strength". Reporting the event, China Daily on June 17, 2015, said the plan is the result of a five-year research project by the shipping body and the military and will improve the People's Liberation Army's "strategic projection and maritime support capabilities". It quoted Cao Weidong, a researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, as saying that "Modern naval warfare often requires the mobilization and deployment of a large number of ships while the mass production of naval ships in peacetime is not economically sensible" and "therefore, it is a common practice that shipbuilders reserve some military application platforms on their civilian vessels so they can serve the navy in wartime."