PLA Marks 99th Founding Anniversary with Advances in Technology, Combat Readiness and Modernization
Dragon Media News Desk
China is marking the 99th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) by highlighting major advances in national defense modernization, intelligent warfare, sophisticated military equipment and integrated operations across multiple domains.
A promotional documentary titled “Zhisheng,” meaning “Victory,” released for China’s Army Day 2026, features robotic wolves carrying shoulder-fired rocket launchers as they cross beach obstacles during an assault drill. The documentary also shows tactical missiles being launched from the Type 191 long-range rocket artillery system, decoy flares fired from the Type 076 amphibious assault ship and live-fire strikes conducted by the KVD002 reconnaissance-strike integrated unmanned aerial vehicle.
August 1, 2026 marks the 99th anniversary of the PLA’s founding. This year’s Army Day is considered especially significant as China approaches the military’s centenary goals, which are expected to be achieved by 2027.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, while presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called for stronger political guidance and accelerated innovation-driven development in the modernization of national defense and the armed forces.
Xi urged efforts to fulfill the PLA’s centenary goals by 2027 and achieve decisive progress in the basic modernization of national defense and the armed forces. He said a modern military would provide strong strategic support for building China into a powerful country and advancing national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.
Chinese military experts said the PLA has prioritized the development of new-generation equipment, all-domain training, joint operations and structural reforms over the past year. Against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis, tensions in West Asia and a complex security environment around China, combat readiness has remained a central mission.
At the Victory Day military parade held on September 3, 2025, China unveiled the Type 100 main battle tank and Type 100 combat support vehicle. According to the Global Times, the platforms demonstrated that the PLA Army had entered an era of warfare integrating information systems, firepower and intelligent technology.
Four types of YJ-series supersonic and hypersonic anti-ship missiles were also displayed, along with high-energy laser weapons and high-power microwave systems designed to counter emerging threats such as small, slow-moving and low-altitude drones.
China also formally displayed its nuclear triad capability, enabling nuclear retaliation from land, sea and air, as well as the DF-5C intercontinental ballistic missile, which is reportedly capable of global strike coverage.
In November 2025, China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, officially entered service. Equipped with an electromagnetic catapult system, the carrier can operate the J-35 stealth fighter and the KJ-600 carrier-borne early warning aircraft.
Chinese military affairs expert Zhang Junshe said China’s military equipment development had progressed from following other powers to competing alongside them and, in certain fields, taking the lead. He said independent technological innovation and system-based combat capabilities had become central features of China’s defense modernization.
The Type 076 amphibious assault ship Sichuan has completed several stages of sea trials. Featuring electromagnetic catapults and a twin-island design, the vessel is expected to operate alongside existing aircraft carrier groups and strengthen China’s capabilities in far-sea and island operations after its formal commissioning.
Over the past year, the PLA has intensified combat-oriented training in the Taiwan Straits, the South China Sea and the Western Pacific. Major activities have included the “Justice Mission 2025” joint exercise, far-sea training by the Liaoning aircraft carrier group, a strategic missile test from a submarine and joint air and naval exercises between China and Russia.
The white paper “China’s National Defense in the New Era,” released by the State Council Information Office, states that China’s national defense policy is defensive in nature. It says China’s path of peaceful development, independent foreign policy and cultural traditions emphasizing peace and harmony determine the country’s defensive security approach.
Alongside military modernization, PLA personnel have continued to participate in disaster relief, United Nations peacekeeping missions and international humanitarian assistance.
Chinese experts said the 2027 centenary goals should not be regarded as the final destination, but as an important stage in a longer strategic process aimed at basically completing national defense modernization by 2035 and building world-class armed forces by the middle of this century.
