The People's Liberation Army is urged to integrate with private businesses to speed up modernization. (Photo : Getty Images)
President Xi Jinping is urging the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to intensify research and development in the armed forces.
Modernization of equipment should be a priority for the PLA to push the modernization of the army, Xi said.
The president said that the modernization of the army will be done if there was a tight partnership with civilian groups engaged in science and technology fields.
The army's research should also be transferred to the business sector so that production of weapons and development of intelligence can also be adapted.
Xi has stressed the importance of civilian-military integration and the importance of training soldiers in the fields of science and technology. He is still pushing for the inclusion of businesses in bidding for military supplies.
The PLA Daily reported that the army has already started out the bidding process and have even awarded several contracts to private businesses.
China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense said that they will remove restrictions on private businesses to engage in bidding for contracts.
Meanwhile, the PLA Navy geared up their new electronic reconnaissance ship which was launched in January.
The reconnaissance ship, CNS Kaiyangxing, sailed across the Taiwan Strait as part of the army's military exercises and delivered to combat support to the North Sea Fleet at the eastern port of Qingdao.
State media described the ship as "capable of conducting all-weather, round-the-clock reconnaissance on multiple and different targets."
J-15 fighter jets also were launched from the Liaoning aircraft carrier in the South China Sea. The launch was to see if the Liaoning can operate and launch ships on turbulent waters.
The Chinese navy said, "Compared with the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, and the East China Sea, the climate and sea conditions in the South China Sea were more complicated. They posed many challenges for the fighter jets when practicing landing and taking off."
