PLA History - 2000s

The State Council and the Central Military Commission (CMC) jointly issued the Decision on establishing the System for Training Military Cadres by reliance on Regular Institutions of Higher Learning on May 30, 2000. The Decision defines such major modes of training and cultivating officers as selecting trainees from on-campus students of regular universities, enrolling national defense-oriented students, and directly recruiting graduates of the year from regular universities. It indicated that the PLA made another major reform on the system of military officer cultivation since the CMC decided to carry out the system of promoting officers through education in military universities and colleges in early 1980s. On October 16, 2000, the State Council Information Office issued the white paper entitled China's National Defense in 2000.

On January 12, 2001, Zhu Rongji, premier of the State Council, and Jiang Zemin, chairman of the Central Military Commission, signed the No. 298 Order of the State Council and the Central Military Commission to promulgate the Implementation Measures for the "Law of the PRC on Protecting Military Facilities". The Measures came into effect as of the date of its promulgation. On April 28, 2001, the National Defense Education Law of the PRC was approved at the 21st Session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress. It is the first important law of China to reform and normalize the national defense education in an all-around way.

The PLA held an exercise of actual troops under the background of a joint landing operation on the Dongshan Island in June of 2001. During the exercise, the troops drilled the coordinating method of various services and arms in joint landing operation. It is the largest three-service exercise of joint landing operation since the founding of the PLA as evidenced by the most advanced weapons and equipment, the longest distance of maneuver, the largest number of high-ranking officers, the most complete services and arms, and the largest number of participating servicemen.

The Regulations on the Appointment and Removal of the PLA Officers in Active Service was promulgated and put into effect on January 4, 2002. China officially participated in first-grade standby arrangement system for UN peacekeeping operations in January 2002. It indicated that China took the first step towards the actual participation in the UN peacekeeping operations after it decided in principle to joint the standby arrangement system for UN peacekeeping operations in May 1997.

On March 28, 2002, China officially notified the International Atomic Energy Agency that China had completed all domestic legal procedures for the entry into force of the additional protocol of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The additional protocol came into effect in China on the same day.

China and Kyrgyzstan held a joint anti-terrorism military exercise on October 11, 2002. The two-day exercise was carried out in two stages. It is the first time for China to hold an anti-terrorism exercise together with a foreign country since the founding of the People's Republic of China. And it is also the first time for the PLA in its history to participate in an exercise out of the territory. On August 22, 2002, the Chinese government promulgated the Regulations of the PRC on Export Control of Missiles & Related Items and Technologies and the Export Control List. It indicated that the Chinese government took another important measure in conformity with the non-proliferation policy.

Upon the approval of the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, the revised Regulations of the PLA on Political Work was promulgated on December 5, 2003. The revised Regulations regardes the political work as the basic guarantee for the Party to exercise the absolute leadership over the armed forces and for the armed forces to perform their functions. It clearly puts forward that the political work is an important factor to form combat effectiveness and stresses to give full play to the operational function of the political work.

The CPC Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission issued the Opinions on Further Strengthening the Building of Reserve Force on March 1, 2004. The Opinions points out that efforts should be made to build a reliable and effective reserve force with proper size, reasonable structure and scientific composition. The PLA Postdoctoral Information Center was set up in the Nanjing General Hospital under the Nanjing Military Area Command in May 2004. The center takes charge of building and operating a network for military postdoctoral administration, information release and policy consultation. The General Staff Headquarters of the PLA promulgated the Serviceperson's Physical Fitness Standards of the PLA for trial implementation in June 2004. The standards are composed of three parts: the standard for leading bodies, the standard for troops and the standard for educational institutions.

The Chinese PLA and the Russian Armed Forces staged a joint military exercise codenamed "Peace Mission 2005" from August 18 to 25, 2005. The exercise aimed at enhancing operational capabilities of both militaries to effectively respond to new challenges and threats. Nearly 10,000 troops from the two sides participated in the exercise held in land , sea and air territories of the two countries.

The national key laboratory for injury, burn and combined injury, the first national key laboratory in the PLA, passed the acceptance test by an expert group assigned by the Ministry of Science and Technology in the Third Military Medical University on January 1, 2006. This is the first national key laboratory and the only one of its kind officially approved and built. The establishment of the laboratory indicated that the scientific research force of the PLA was formally included into the national innovation system.

Upon the approval of the Central Military Commission, the General Staff Headquarters, the General Political Department, the General Logistics Department and the General Armaments Department of the PLA jointly promulgated the Regulations of the PLA on Rewarding Professional and Technical Personnel in March 2006. According to the Regulations, the prize money for individual could be as high as 100,000 yuan. The PLA Comprehensive Military Information Network was formally put into operation on August 25, 2006.

From May 15 to May 20, 2007, the PLA Navy assigned its ship to participate in the multilateral maritime military exercise under the framework of the Western Pacific Navy Symposium (WPNS) for the first time. From August. 9 to 17, 2007, troops of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states held a joint anti-terrorism military exercise code named "Peace Mission 2007" in Chelyabinsk of Russia. From December 19 to 27, 2007, the Chinese and Indian army troops carried out a joint anti-terrorism military exercise in Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

On 01 August 2007, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) started a change of military uniforms for the Army , the Navy and the Air Force. It was the military uniform change of the largest size in the history of the PLA.