President's goal is to build stronger, more integrated and more flexible PLA

Editor's Note: To mark the 95th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army, China Daily is publishing a series of stories elaborating on Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military, expounding its main ideas from different angles.

The People's Liberation Army has been undergoing a historic reform guided by President Xi Jinping since late 2012, when Xi became the top leader of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese military. Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military has also made it clear that pursuing reform and encouraging innovation are key to military's strength.

The reform has resulted in the biggest, most important overhaul of the PLA in decades. The senior governing bodies of the world's largest military have been reshuffled－up to the Central Military Commission－to optimize the command chain. The regional command systems have been reorganized to boost joint combat capabilities. Group armies and institutions have been merged to improve efficiency, and new high-technology units have been set up to prepare for operations in nontraditional fields such as cyberspace.

Experts said the president's goal is plain and clear: The PLA must become stronger, more integrated and more flexible so it will always be able to win modern wars.

Not long after Xi became general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in November 2012, he announced his determination to revolutionize the PLA and build it into a mighty force capable of safeguarding China's security and interests. Since then, the CPC Central Committee with Xi as the core has been making theoretical and practical efforts to identify what kind of military should be built in order to respond to the new realities of the new era and help make the great Chinese dream of national rejuvenation come true, and what steps should be taken to build such a military. The outcome of these discussions has come to be known as Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military.

"China is at a crucial stage in its path toward becoming a world power" and "the country is facing new situations and new challenges when it comes to its security and development", so the Chinese military must be aware of its responsibilities and problems and make comprehensive changes, the president said.

Under the reform, changes have taken place in the life of almost all PLA personnel. Many officers, including hundreds of generals, have been moved to new positions, while some have returned to civilian life. Soldiers are now spending more time in battle training and live-fire exercises, and corrupt commanders have been expelled and punished.

"Without a strong military and strong national defense, we could not achieve our goal of building a strong country," said Major General Luo Yuan, a retired researcher at the PLA Academy of Military Science. "To safeguard national security and development interests, we must have a compatible military force."

In November 2013, a plenary session of the CPC Central Committee declared a formal decision to undertake massive military reform.