The Goal of a Strong Army

After the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, Xi Jinping first proposed the goal of building a strong army: to build a people's army that listens to the Party's command, is able to win battles, and has a good style of work. The Report of the 19th CPC National Congress further clarified that the Party’s goal of building a strong army in the new era is to build a people’s army that listens to the Party’s command, is able to win battles, and has a good style of work, and build the people’s army into a world-class army. This is the core content of the Party's thoughts on strengthening the army in the new era, which provides a fundamental guidance for advancing national defense and army building at a new starting point. Building a strong people's army is an unremitting pursuit of the Communist Party of China.

In all historical periods, the Communist Party of China clearly put forward the goals and requirements of the construction and development of the people's army in accordance with the changes in the situation and tasks, and led the continuous improvements in the people's army building. The goal of building a strong army under the new situation is based on grasping the historical position and periodic characteristics of national defense and army building. On the one hand, the world today is undergoing unprecedented major changes, and major changes have taken place in the international strategic landscape, global geopolitics, and comprehensive national strength competition; on the other hand, China is at a critical stage of development from large to strong, facing increased resistance and pressure, as well as increasingly prominent maritime security threats. This situation shows that without a strong army, peaceful development can’t be guaranteed, and the gap is still very large, thus we shall seize every minute and opportunity to catch up. The goal of building a strong army clarifies the focus and acting points of strengthening the army building.

Listening to the Party’s command is the soul and determines the political direction of army building. At any time and under any circumstances, the army must listen to the Party’s command, adhere to the fundamental principles of the Party’s absolute leadership over the army and the fundamental purpose of the people’s army, and always be loyal to the Party, socialism, the motherland, and the people, and be absolutely loyal, absolutely pure, and absolutely reliable. Being able to win battles is the core, reflecting the fundamental functions of the army and the fundamental direction of army building. Under the new situation, we must focus on being able to fight and win battles (the key to building a strong army), strengthen the thinking of officers and soldiers of fighting as a soldier, leading and training the soldiers to fight, and firmly establish the only fundamental standard of combat effectiveness, and develop and prepare in accordance with the requirements of fighting, and ensure that the troops can come, fight and win the battle when they are called up. Having a good style of work is the guarantee, related to the nature, purpose and character of the army, and reflects the distinctive characteristics and political advantages of the people's army. Work style construction is a basic and long-term task of the army, and the foundation for strengthening the army of “governing the army in accordance with the law and with strict discipline” shall be consolidated. Fine work style requires continuous improvement of work style and always maintaining a good image formed by the people's army for a long time. Building the world's first-class army is an army development goal consistent with the country's modernization process. Listening to the Party’s command, being able to win the battle, having a good style, and the world’s first-class army are interconnected and inseparable, and are unified in the construction of a strong people’s army, which reflects the high degree of unity of adhering to the principles of fundamental army building, fundamental functions of the army, and unique political advantages, and the essential requirements of always standing on the position of the people and defending the fundamental interests of the people, clearly defining the goal map and road map for strengthening and revitalizing the army. The goal of building a strong army under the new situation has great theoretical value and practical guiding significance. It is the latest achievement of the CPC’s military guidance theory, and it has injected new era connotations into national defense and army building. It is in line with the Party's guiding ideology, principles and guidelines of building and managing the army in different historical periods, and keeps pace with the times, containing the core requirements of embarking on the road of building a strong army with characteristics; it is based on the practices of reform and development of China's army building, focusing on solving practical problems under different historical conditions. The goal of building a strong army adheres to the basic principles of Marxism and is an important part of the Marxist military theory system with Chinese characteristics, opening up a new realm of Marxist military theory and the development of contemporary Chinese military practices.