Chinese army pilots health standards centering on 'combat capacity'

BEIJING -- The Chinese army is piloting a health assessment project featuring "combat capacity" as the major criterion, a newspaper of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) reported Thursday.

The delicate system includes separate standards for physical and mental health examinations, including nine practical guidelines on bodybuilding, injury recovery, diet and nutrition, weight control, mental health training and rehabilitation, according to the PLA Daily.

The system's leading designer Mi Mantian, medical professor with the Third Military Medical University, believes it will effectively improve the servicemen's physical and mental health and enhance the troops' combat capacity.

The PLA authorities set a compulsive weight standard in a five-year reform outline earlier in 2015, warning that overweight soldiers and officers will not be promoted.

Combat capacity, or the ability to win wars, is a key emphasis in China's military building.

The project took medical experts nearly two years in design. They visited more than 40 army units to do research and collected 500,000 sets of data concerning soldiers' physiological function, mental condition and body shape, according to the newspaper.

It will be expanded in navy and other military services, the newspaper said.

While inspecting the Central Military Commission (CMC) joint battle command center on Wednesday, Chinese President and CMC Chairman Xi Jinping asked officers to strive for a joint battle command system that is "absolutely loyal, resourceful in fighting, efficient in commanding and courageous and capable of winning wars."

In September 2015 China announced a cut of 300,000 troops to demonstrate its commitment to peace and a better organized military.