President Xi Jinping urged the Marine Corps of the People's Liberation
Army Navy to turn itself into an elite force that must be integrated,
capable, flexible and fast-responding as he inspected the service's
headquarters in Guangdong province on Tuesday.
Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central
Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said that
to achieve this goal, the Marine Corps should fully implement the Party's
military thought and strategies for the new era, study and explore its
own management and operational patterns, speed up its transformation
and improve its combat capability.
Xi said that all commanders and officers should concentrate on fostering
their troops' combat preparedness and stay on high alert. More realistic
battle training must be carried out to enhance skills and more efforts
should be made to innovate in terms of combat theories, training
methods and task planning, he noted.
He stressed that the Marine Corps is an elite amphibious fighting force that
shoulders significant responsibilities in safeguarding national sovereignty and
territorial integrity as well as China's maritime rights and overseas interests.
This was the first time that Xi has visited the Marine Corps, which is part of the
PLA Navy and was overhauled in 2017 during the military reform launched
by the president in late 2015.
Xi listened to Marine Corps commanders' reports, watched a documentary on
the unit's development, and watched marines' training through a
teleconference system. He welcomed the achievements made by the force in its
development and operations since its reform in 2017.
The president said that the Marine Corps must enhance strategic planning for its
growth and ensure that it can better serve the country's development, security
and military strategies, as well as the PLA's modernization endeavors, the
interservice joint combat system and the Navy's transformation efforts.
It should also explore the right development direction and objectives and then set
clear road maps to accomplish those goals, Xi said.
Senior officials of the Marine Corps were also told to boost the joint operational
capability of units in the Marine Corps and with other services.
The chain of command and logistics support network should be optimized to
ensure the force can better cooperate with other elements in the interservice
combat system, Xi said.
In addition, the president said that marines must uphold their good traditions and
fighting spirit. He urged commanders to take good care of their troops and to
encourage creativity and innovation.
Furthermore, Xi said that, as the COVID-19 pandemic has yet to be completely
eradicated, the military must not relax its anti-virus measures.