Xi Jinping Attends the Plenary Session of the Delegation of the People’s Liberation Army and the People’s Armed Police Force

On the afternoon of March 7, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People’s Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, emphasized while attending the plenary meeting of the delegation of the People’s Liberation Army and the People’s Armed Police Force at the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress that, during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, to achieve on schedule the centenary goal for building a strong military and to advance the modernization of national defense and the armed forces with high quality, it is imperative to uphold, effectively apply, and further develop the vital strategic principle of political military building; unswervingly uphold and strengthen the Party’s absolute leadership over the armed forces; fully leverage the unique advantages of political military building; and pool hearts and minds and concentrate efforts to ensure steady and sustained progress in the modernization of national defense and the armed forces.
During the meeting, six delegates—Sun Lei, Zhou Fen, Tang Wuxiang, Hao Jingwen, Jiang Xiaodong, and Zhu Yuemeng—spoke in turn, offering suggestions and recommendations on such topics as inter-agency law-enforcement collaboration, Party organization-led efforts to overcome scientific research challenges, the cultivation of non-commissioned officers, the development and employment of capabilities associated with new equipment and emerging forces, the promotion of fine traditions, and the identification, publicity, study, and application of exemplary models.
After carefully listening to the remarks of the deputies, Xi Jinping delivered an important speech. He pointed out that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee has led the people’s armed forces in deepening political retraining and advancing the building of a politically strong military with unprecedented determination and intensity, achieving significant results. The military is an institution that wields the gun; there must be no one in the ranks who harbors any second thoughts about the Party, nor any safe haven for corrupt elements. We must unswervingly combat corruption. From the very outset of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we must establish strict regulatory rules and enforce rigorous oversight, focusing on key areas such as the flow of funds, the exercise of power, and quality control; strengthen oversight of major projects; enhance supervision over the integration of military and civilian sectors; and ensure that all construction is carried out under effective oversight. We must advance reform of military budget management, strike a dynamic balance between military expenditure supply and demand, strengthen end-to-end control over the use of funds and performance evaluation, and ensure that every penny is spent where it is most needed.
Xi Jinping emphasized that, in the end, achieving the goals and tasks of modernizing national defense and the armed forces during the 15th Five-Year Plan period hinges on the leadership and promotion by Party organizations at all levels. It is essential to comprehensively strengthen the Party’s leadership over and its building within the armed forces, carefully select and robustly staff senior Party committees, enhance the capacity of grassroots Party organizations to independently carry out their own development and construction, and make Party organizations at all levels even stronger and more effective. We must uphold the principles of Party leadership over military affairs, cadres, and specific sectors; improve our ability to make scientific decisions; play a pivotal role in tackling major missions, resolving acute contradictions, and overcoming developmental challenges; and transform the advantages of Party leadership into advantages for development.
Xi Jinping pointed out that it is essential to strengthen the building of a revolutionary and professional talent pool, unswervingly use the Party’s innovative theories to forge souls and cultivate people, consolidate the ideological foundation for officers and soldiers to heed the Party’s words and follow its lead, and ensure that modernized weapons and equipment are firmly in the hands of a revolutionary cadre corps. It is also necessary to improve the systems and conditions that foster talent development, systematically advance the training of “four categories of talent”—joint operations command personnel, new-type combat forces, high-level scientific and technological innovators, and high-caliber strategic managers—and achieve coordinated development between human capabilities and the practice of strengthening the military.
Xi Jinping emphasized the need to vigorously inherit and carry forward the fine traditions of our Party and our armed forces, advance the building of a strong military culture in the new era, strengthen the cultivation and encouragement of exemplary role models, ensure that the “red gene” is passed down from generation to generation, and further foster a climate of integrity and positive conduct. It is essential to regard the grassroots level as fertile ground for perpetuating these fine traditions, actively explore the underlying principles and effective practices for grassroots development in the new context, attach great importance to work that addresses fundamental issues, delivers long-term benefits, and enhances sustained momentum, and thereby lay an even more solid foundation for military development and combat effectiveness.
Zhang Shengmin, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the meeting.