Be ready to fight and win wars, Xi Jinping tells Chinese military

BEIJING: President Xi Jinping has instructed the Chinese armed forces to improve their combat capabilities and readiness for war, an official media report said on Friday.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), made the remarks while inspecting the CMC joint battle command centre as its commander-in-chief.

"The CMC should lead the armed forces to be ready to fight and win wars, and to undertake the



missions and tasks of the new era entrusted to them by the party and the people," Xi was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency. CMC is the overall high command of the 2.3 million-strong Chinese PLA, the world's largest army.

This is the second time Xi has highlighted the role of the armed forces since he began his second term after securing the endorsement of the key Congress of the ruling CPC which concluded here on October 24. He was re-elected as president, general secretary of the party, and head of the military.