CHINA-PLA AND THE DEFENCE BUDGET

At the press conference of China's State Council Information Office on March 4, 2017, Maj. Gen. Chen Zhou, military deputy to China's National People's Congress (NPC) and researcher with the Military Strategy Department of the PLA Academy of Military Science, said the 7% military budget increase in 2017 will be used to support the national defense and military reform, update equipment, improve the training and living environment of grassroot-level troops, in-depth development of military-civilian integration and so on. Chen Zhou said China won't change the scope of increase simply because of sudden changes in external factors unless there is a large-scale war. He said China doesn't face the threat of a large-scale war, but will be faced with local warfare and armed conflicts caused by external factors, so China's military strategy will be focused on winning information-based warfare with a special emphasis on the readiness to engage in military combat in the sea. He said the Chinese armed forces is an army-based, defensive and labor-intensive military, and China's geopolitical environment requires it to maintain a strong army. This will remain unchanged. However, with the changes in China's security environment and form of warfare, China needs to intensify the construction of other services too, including the Navy, Air Force, Rocket Force and Strategic Support Force. He disclosed that military expenditure will be more inclined to those military services. Chen Zhou said "aircraft carrier is a benchmark in China's naval development. As you see, the Liaoning ship has performed superbly both in testing and training. The second aircraft carrier is also in smooth progress and equipment is being installed on it." He added that China won't stop at Liaoning or the second carrier, but will continue to build carrier groups. Chen also introduced the main contents of the national defense and military reform in 2017, including the reform of military scale, structure, composition of forces and policy, as well as reform in military-civilian integration. Reform in military scale, structure and the composition of forces includes adjusting the proportion of different services and reducing the scale; Reform in military policy includes establishing the system of civil personnel, the military-title-oriented hierarchy of officers, and professional development of military officers; and military academies, research institutes and training organizations are all being adjusted. He said 2017 marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of the PLA, and the Chinese military is determined to take on a new outlook in the world.





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