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Amber Wang

Alcott Wei

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to enhance its use of AI as part of a drive to develop an intelligent military.
Speaking ahead of the PLA’s 99th anniversary on Saturday, Xi said the military had made “significant progress” in modernisation and called for “decisive” advances to achieve its objectives.
He told a Politburo group study session on Thursday that the PLA should “strengthen the military application of unmanned intelligent technologies, deepen the development and application of network information systems, and gradually build an intelligent military system”, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Xi’s comments are a probable reflection of the leadership’s current thinking about how the PLA is progressing towards its centenary targets.
While Beijing has never explicitly defined the specific capabilities required to achieve this goal, the PLA has said the target involved the accelerated development of an intelligent force, as well as modernising its weapons and equipment.
These efforts are widely believed to require the integration of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) into the military.
“Unmanned intelligent technologies” generally refers to the integration of AI and unmanned vehicles, allowing them to act with greater autonomy, according to state media.
During the meeting, Xi called on the military to achieve its centenary goals on schedule and make “decisive progress” towards modernisation.
China’s military aims to become a world-class force by 2049 and to “basically achieve” the modernisation of national defence and the armed forces by 2035.
In recent years, Xi has repeatedly called for the development of “new combat capabilities”.
Last year, a major military parade in Beijing showcased a variety of drones, some of them designed to operate alongside piloted aircraft.


Official commentators said these systems were capable of autonomous collaborative operations and would “pioneer new forms of aerial combat”.
Xi also told the meeting that the PLA had made “significant progress” in modernising and becoming combat-ready since 2012.
“The drive to build a stronger military has achieved historic accomplishments and undergone historic transformations,” he said.
Xi is the chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the top military decision-making body, and his comments were a rare assessment of the PLA’s progress in recent years.
He told the meeting that the PLA should “strengthen the integration of combat capability systems, conduct thorough combat-oriented testing and evaluation, and solidly advance military training and preparedness to effectively safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests”.
He also called for further progress in the anti-corruption campaign, which has so far resulted in the removal of a slew of senior commanders, including members of the CMC and two former defence ministers.
On Friday, Defence Minister Dong Jun told a reception marking the PLA’s anniversary that this year was a “crucial one for achieving the PLA’s centenary goals”.
“The military should thoroughly implement Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military and uphold the CMC chairman responsibility system,” Dong said.
“[The military should] serve as a firm strategic backstop for national reunification and resolutely thwart any form of Taiwan independence separatist schemes or external military interference.”
Fu Qianshao, a military analyst and former air force member, said warfare was “evolving” towards the increased use of unmanned systems, ranging from drone swarms and robot dogs to unmanned underwater vehicles.
“The technological foundation underpinning these unmanned systems is ‘intelligentisation’, which requires support from AI,” he said.
“With the PLA approaching its centenary, projects currently under development need to be further advanced. Tests of weapons systems, including flight tests, should also be further strengthened.
“This will help raise the PLA’s integrated combat capabilities across the ground force, navy, air force and rocket force to a new level.”


Song Zhongping, a former PLA instructor, said the meeting had emphasised the importance of training and combat readiness.
“For the PLA, this means maintaining constant training and combat preparedness, with a focus on real-world combat scenarios,” Song said.
The Communist Party is expected to hold a national congress late next year, traditionally a time for major leadership changes, including in the membership of the CMC.
The Politburo meeting also heard a presentation by Sun Zheng from the CMC’s strategic planning office on advancing the development of national defence and military modernisation.
Previous Politburo study sessions on military matters have focused on issues such as military governance and modernisation.
The United States has linked the PLA’s 2027 goal to developing the ability to attack Taiwan. However, US intelligence agencies said in their annual threat assessment released in May that “Chinese leaders do not currently plan to execute an invasion of Taiwan in 2027.”
Even so, the PLA has continued its manoeuvres around Taiwan, increasingly involving the coastguard along with the military.
Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to reunite it with the mainland.
Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as independent, but Washington opposes any attempt to seize the self-ruled island by force and is legally bound to provide it with weapons to defend itself.


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Comments made ahead of the PLA’s 99th anniversary offer a rare insight into how military modernisation is progressing


Comments made ahead of the PLA’s 99th anniversary offer a rare insight into how military modernisation is progressing.


Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign

Central Military Commission

Xi Jinping urges Chinese armed forces to ‘strengthen military application’ of AI

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Comments made ahead of the PLA’s 99th anniversary offer a rare insight into how military modernisation is progressing

Comments made ahead of the PLA’s 99th anniversary offer a rare insight into how military modernisation is progressing