China declared it will cut the number of its standing troops by 300,000 by the end of 2017 on Thursday, in its latest effort to build slimmer but stronger armed forces.
Yang Yujun, spokesman of China's Defense Ministry, made the announcement at a press conference hours after President Xi Jinping, also chairman of the Central Military Commission, pledged the military cuts at a massive military parade commemorating the end of WWII. According to him, move will mainly target troops equipped with outdated armaments, administrative staff and non-combatant personnel, while optimizing the structure of Chinese forces.
Even after the reduction, China's military will still be the world's largest, which meets China's practical needs, Yang said. Aside from safeguarding national unity and territorial integrity, China needs a military to undertake non-military tasks such as disaster relief, peacekeeping and international rescue, he said.Concerning China's defense budget, Yang said it will be kept on a proper level to meet various needs including expenditure on new armaments, information technology and soldiers' salaries.
When debate about whether the money saved from downsizing will be used to develop other weapons, the spokesman reiterated China's defensive nuclear policy, saying it won't use nuclear weapons first and China advocates peaceful exploration of outerspace.
China announced in March a 10.1-percent rise in national defense budget in 2015, the lowest growth in five years.
Yang noted the military cut announcement will underline China's bonafide and wish to uphold peace, achieve common development and share prosperity with other nations.
He also told the press conference that "more reform measures will be released.
