Chinese President Says Better Use Of Defense Resources Is Necessary To Win War

President Xi Jinping. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru/Presidential Press and Information Office)

JAKARTA - China needs to increase the use of its defense resources such as technology, supply chains, and national reserves "to strengthen its army and win wars", President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday.

President Xi is the commander-in-chief of China's armed forces and will be officially re-elected as president this weekend.

Consolidating and enhancing "integrated strategic capability" is a new requirement set by the ruling Communist Party, President Xi told representatives of the People's Liberation Army and military police during the annual session of parliament, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Dressed in an army green Chinese suit, he reminded the military that it must be led by the party. President Xi secured a precedent-breaking third term as party chairman last year.

"China needs to better use science, technology, and defense industry to strengthen its army and win wars," said President Xi, launching Reuters on March 9.

He asked national laboratories to speed up their research in the field of defense technology, so that China does not have to depend on foreign countries.

Furthermore, he also said industrial supply chains need to be more resilient, calling for more infrastructure development and the preparation of national reserves for defense purposes.

However, President Xi did not specify what "strategic risks", as he put it, the military needed to address.

It is known that China is taking an increasingly assertive stance towards the United States and other countries, never renouncing the use of force to retake Taiwan, rejecting Beijing's sovereignty claims over Taiwan.