A joint military drill that started in late July entered a live fire stage on Monday in a plateau area in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
Coded "Joint Action-2015D," the drill was organized by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Chengdu Military Area Command.
It is the first of five similar drills that will involve a total of more than 140,000 soldiers from over 140 PLA regiments of various types.
A "joint operation system" will be formed by Chinese armed forces including army, navy, air force, artillery, armed police, intelligence, reconnaissance and electronic warfare, said He Qimao, head of the joint drill bureau of the PLA General Staff's training department.
The PLA plans to complete more than 100 joint exercises involving over 50 army corps this year. Military experts consider joint exercises the most demanding training, as they require a high degree of coordination.
The PLA set up a leading group on joint military exercises in March 2014.
The Chinese military has also scheduled more than 20 combined military exercises with a dozen countries including Russia, Pakistan, Colombia, Thailand and Turkey in 2015. The exercises with Russia and Thailand have already been completed.
