The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Bloomberg
China’s military has been ordered by President Xi Jinping to stop running kindergartens and other businesses and focus on fighting, as he attempts to overhaul the world’s largest army.
Xi said during a meeting of the Communist Party’s 25-member Politburo that the armed forces should cease commercial activities by the end of the year, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. China’s military is involved in running businesses ranging from kindergartens to property rental services, it said.
“The progress of this work has prompted the army to focus on war preparation and fighting ability,†Xi said, according to Xinhua. The change would be of “great significance to the building of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) into a world-class military in all respects,†he said, adding it would facilitate “the consolidation of the party’s ruling status and the long-term stability of the country.†The move is Xi’s latest attempt to curb corruption in the PLA.