Xi: Build strong information force

President stresses important role of newest branch in Chinese military

President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, is greeted by military representatives on Wednesday during an inspection of the Information Support Force of the People's Liberation Army. （Li Gang/Xinhua）

President Xi Jinping has called for efforts to build a strong and modernized information support force and to realize leapfrog development of the Chinese military's network information system.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks on Wednesday when making his first inspection of the newest branch in the Chinese military.

Known as the Information Support Force of the People's Liberation Army, the newly established unit, which reports directly to the Central Military Commission, was inaugurated in April by Xi, who described it as a vital power in modern warfare.

The establishment of the new force is a major decision made by the CPC Central Committee and the CMC that aims to build a strong PLA, and a strategic step to establish a new structure of services and improve the military system with Chinese characteristics.

Speaking to the force's officers and soldiers on Wednesday, Xi said the network information system in modern warfare now plays an unprecedentedly prominent role, as a new round of rapid development in technological and military revolutions is taking place with forms of warfare evolving at an accelerated pace.

Noting that the PLA Information Support Force is first and foremost a combat force, Xi stressed that the unit must speed up the construction of the network information system, which is extremely important for building a strong military, and urged the unit to build up its capabilities to provide service support for enhancing combat preparedness.

Xi said the new force should focus on its capabilities to fight and win, improve its methods of providing information service, steadily advance the building of a public service platform for network information, and make good use of various data and information in an integrated way.

He also required the unit to pay high attention to network information security and take the lead in innovating the mode of command and transforming combat methods.

As the Information Support Force is newly established, Xi stressed the need for it to reinforce its foundation of development and remain committed to the Party's absolute leadership over the people's armed forces.

It is necessary to strictly enforce discipline and combat corruption to ensure that the military remains absolutely loyal, absolutely pure and absolutely reliable, he said.