Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday announced a massive overhaul of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and other armed forces by 2020.
Jinping, in a meeting on re-structuring the country's military, proposed the establishment of a joint military command over all branches of armed forces, re-arrangement of existing seven military regions into four or five zones and reorganization of existing military administrative set up, according to CNTV.
"A new structure will be established, in which the CMC takes charge of the overall administration of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Chinese People's Armed Police and the militia and reserve forces; battle zone commands focus on combats; and different military services pursue their own construction," Xi announced during the military meeting, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
The two-day closed-door meeting was chaired by Jinping as chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and attended by 200 military officials. Jinping also holds the post of general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
"We must build up an elite combat force, enhance the command structure and make-up of troops, and transform our military model from one focused on quantity to one underpinned by quality," Xi said, according to Straits Times.
Jinping also confirmed that the country's troops would be reduced from the existing 2.3 million to 2 million. The Chinese president, in a September military parade, promised to cut 300,000 troops as part of military reform.
"Under the leadership of the Party, the army has gone from small to large, from weak to strong, and from victory to victory. Now, as the country progresses from a large country to a large and powerful one, defense and military development stands at a new and historic starting line," he said, according to Xinhua.
