The 'People' in the PLA: Recruitment, Training, and Education in China's 80-Year-Old Military

Authored by Justin B Liang, Sarah K Snyder.

November 2007

Brief Synopsis

Three conclusions were reached: (1) China’s ideal “new type” of military officer is university educated and possesses the technical competence and physical ability to handle actual combat against a modern, high-tech adversary. (2) Driven by the understanding of the critical and integral role of soldiers to the success of military modernization, China’s professional military education (PME) system is undergoing rapid changes, focusing on science, technology, and the development of leadership skills. (3) Underpinning China’s drive towards a more high-tech military is the concept of “informatization," a sophisticated idea about aligning capabilities and requirements in the face of an increasingly hybridized force.

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