The Subject and Main-Line of the National Defense and Army Building

Take promoting the scientific development of national defense and army building as the theme and accelerating the transformation of the combat effectiveness generation model as the mainline. This theme and mainline was proposed by Hu Jintao in his speech at the plenary meeting of the PLA delegation at the 4th Session of the Eleventh National People's Congress. It is the further application and development of the scientific development concept in national defense and army building. This theme and mainline of national defense and army building is closely related to that of economic and social development. In 2007, the 17th CPC National Congress put forward new requirements for achieving the goal of building a well-off society in an all-round way. According to the new requirements, the 5th Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee put forward the guidelines with the scientific development as the theme, and accelerating the transformation of the economic development mode as the mainline.

During the “two sessions” in 2011, Hu Jintao emphasized when meeting with the PLA delegation: “Taking promoting the scientific development of national defense and army building as the theme is the requirement of the times, and it is the general outline for coordinating the overall national defense and army building”. “Taking accelerating the transformation of the combat effectiveness generation model as the mainline” is the internal requirement for resolving the two major “incompatible” contradictions in army building and the only way to promote the scientific development of national defense and army building. The Report of the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012 further emphasized that adhere to taking promoting the scientific development of national defense and army building as the theme, and accelerating the transformation of the combat effectiveness generation model as the mainline, and comprehensively strengthening the revolutionization, modernization and regularization of the army. “Taking promoting the scientific development of national defense and army building as the theme” means to take the scientific development concept as an important guideline for national defense and army building and a strategic task of army building, strive to improve the scientific development level of national defense and army building, and continuously create a new situation in scientific development of national defense and army building. “Taking accelerating the transformation of the combat effectiveness generation model as the mainline” means to consciously use the progress of science and technology to promote the transformation of combat effectiveness generation model, effectively shift the combat effectiveness generation model to improving the combat capability based on the information system with the information as the leading factor, and new combat power as the growth point, to relying on scientific and technological progress, improving the quality of officers and soldiers, and innovating management, and to the path of military-civilian integrated development, and promote the sound and rapid development of national defense and army building at a new starting point.The relationship between the theme and the mainline is that, the theme determines the mainline and the mainline deepens the theme; the theme is the starting point of the mainline and the main line is the foothold of the theme; the two complement each other and promote each other, and the army must adhere to the dialectical unity of the two. The theme and mainline of national defense and army building, which grasps the fundamental, overall and directional major issues of national defense and army building, is a scientific summary of the army's adherence to scientific development experience in the new stage of the new century, a profound revelation of basic laws of national defense and army building under the new situation, and an important guideline for national defense and army building during the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period.