Non-battle personnel downsized: PLA report

A report in the newspaper of the People’s Liberation Army of China implied a large reduction in non-battle personnel has been conducted, a move Chinese military experts said would improve combat capability, quality and efficiency.

According to a PLA Daily report on Sunday, during military reform the group armies of the PLA ground force have experienced great changes which would bring new tests to daily management and combat readiness training.

For instance, the number of group armies had been reduced from 18 to 13, according to the article.

The army-division-regiment-battalion hierarchy has been replaced by army-brigade-battalion, simplifying levels and boosting direction, the report said.

By cutting non-battle personnel to the bone, the PLA would be more capable and efficient, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Sunday.

“The whole military can allocate resources more efficiently and form a stronger battle capability. The key point will now be quality instead of quantity,” he said.

“A commander will gain more roles in the army and feel pressure to adapt,” Song said.

“But that is an inevitable trend and the key to current military reform. The good ones will stay and the unqualified ones will leave,” he noted.