Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that the Chinese military needs to promote technological innovation as a "key" to upgrading and modernizing the Chinese military in his meeting with military delegates during the annual meeting of parliament.
Xi is overseeing a sweeping modernization of the country's armed forces, including stealth jet, anti-satellite missiles and advanced submarines, seeking to project power far from its shores.
In the report of Xinhua on Sunday, Xi said to military delegates, science and technology innovation is the "key to military upgrading."
"Efforts should be made to provide greater science and technology support for the People's Liberation Army," Xi adds.
"We must have a greater sense of urgency to push for science and technology innovation and advancement with greater determination and efforts."
There needs to be improved military and civilian cooperation in training high-quality military personnel, he added.
"Efforts to improve the training system of military personnel should also be strengthened to foster a large number of high-quality military talent."
The military reform program has been met with a lot of controversies since it was enacted. There had been military rank cuts and corruption charges in recent years as part of this reform program.
