Chinese President Wants To 'Downsize' The Military

A picture of Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen behind soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army marching during a training session for a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the World War Two, at a military base in Beijing, China, August 22, 2015.... REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

Global Times/Xinhua: Xi calls for smaller but more capable army

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for a smaller army with better combat capability and optimized structure as the military reform deepens.

Xi, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and head of a leading group for deepening reform on national defense and the armed forces, made the remarks at a two-day conference on military reform, which ended Saturday.

"This is a major, inevitable change," Xi told the meeting. "We must seize the opportunity and make breakthroughs."

The president said changes must be made if China is to build a strong world-class army.

Xi announced in September last year that the armed forces would be cut down by 300,000 troops from the original 2.3 million.

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Update: China's Xi says military must be smaller, but more capable (Reuters)

WNU Editor: Instead of quantity they now want quality. My prediction .... reforming the Chinese military and its culture is going to take a very long time.