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Military forces to be trained for IT-based warfare

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-05 10:15

BEIJING -- China will transform its military training based on mechanized warfare to that based on informationized warfare, according to a government work report delivered by Premier Wen Jiabao at a parliament session Thursday.

"In the coming year, we need to make our army more revolutionary, modern and standardized," reads the report.

China "will effectively transform our military training based on mechanized warfare to military training for warfare under conditions of greater IT application", the report says.

Full coverage:  NPC and CPPCC 2009 Related readings:  Defense budget to see 'modest rise'  China's defense budget to grow 14.9% in 2009  China says military ties 'remain difficult,' urges US actions  Sino-US military dialogue resumes

China will continue to enhance the army's ability to respond to multiple security threats and accomplish a diverse array of military tasks.

The building of computerized armed forces has entered a new era of all-round development, says a white paper on China's national defense in 2008 issued in January.

Starting with command automation in the 1970s, the PLA's information technology has stepped from specific areas to trans-area system integration and is at the initial stage of comprehensive development, says a defense white paper issued by the Information Office of the State Council in January.

China plans to increase its defense budget by 14.9 percent to 480.686 billion yuan (70 billion U.S. dollars) in 2009, according to Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for the second session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC), the country's parliament.

Li said the increased spending is mainly for better treatment of servicemen, and for the purchase of equipment and construction of facilities to enhance the ability of the military force to defend the country in the age of information.

China's defense expenditure accounted for 1.4 percent of it's GDP in 2008. The ratio was 4 percent for the United States, and more than 2 percent for Britain, France and some other countries, Li said.