The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has gone through 93 years of glory and great endeavour. Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the PLA has made an indelible historical contribution to the great liberation of the Chinese people, to China's socialist construction and reform, safeguarding State sovereignty, security and the interests of national development, and to the cause of world peace and progress of humanity. It is known in the world as a mighty, civilized and peaceful force.
A Mighty Force
As the PLA becomes increasingly modernized, and regulated, it has grown from a single-service force into one with multiple branches of service, and from an under-equipped force to a highly mechanized one. Firstly, the PLA has steadfast belief and fighting spirit, and the motto of daring to fight, daring to win, fearing neither hardship nor death vividly portray its courage and upright nature. Furthermore, the PLA is optimizing organizational structure, new types of combat forces have been enhanced to conduct special operations, all-dimensional offense and defence, amphibious operations, far seas operations and strategic projection. The military doctrines have been innovated and the outcomes have been delivered in military strategy, joint operations and informationization, which have provided a theoretical support to defence and military development. Moreover, the PLA has made great progress in independent innovation in strategic, cutting-edge and disruptive technologies. And it is optimizing the overall composition of weaponry and equipment, promoting the balanced development of main battle equipment, information systems, and support equipment.
A Civilized Force
The PLA is world-renowned for its strict discipline. Now, the PLA is building a military legal system with Chinese characteristics, strengthening oversight and supervision in military training and combat readiness, promoting legal awareness through public communication and education campaigns, establishing and improving the support mechanism of legal consultation and service, and advancing law-based management in the military. Therefore, it has been managed more strictly in all respects, contributing to maintaining its positive image. In addition, the PLA always carries forward the tradition of staying in close touch with the people and defending their rights and interests, actively participates in disaster rescue and relief.
A Peaceful Force
The development of China’s national defence aims to meet its rightful security needs and contribute to the growth of the world’s peaceful forces. China is a major contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget and the largest troop contributor among the permanent members of the UNSC. The PLA has participated in 25 UN peacekeeping missions and has contributed more than 40,000 peacekeepers. 15 Chinese military personnel have sacrificed their lives in the UNPKOs. Since December 2008, the PLA has dispatched more than 100 naval ships in 35 Task Groups to carry out escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the coast of Somalia, which have provided security protection for over 6,700 Chinese and foreign ships, and rescued over 70 ships in distress. After the breakout of COVID-19 pandemic, the PLA provided medical supplies to the armed forces of more than 40 countries, sent medical teams to Pakistan, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia to help them fight against the pandemic.