China is reorganising its military education system and establishing academies for new service branches, as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) pushes hard for modernisation.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the PLA Ground Force Service Academy will be based in Hefei, Anhui province; the PLA Information Support Force Engineering University in Wuhan, Hubei province; and the PLA Joint Logistics Support Force Engineering University in Chongqing.
These academies will open recruitment for high school graduate applicants, with admission programmes and student enrolment to be announced in follow-up notices, ministry spokesman Jiang Bin said on Thursday.
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Jiang said that the initiative was taken to “adapt to the needs of restructuring military services and the military talent training”.
The new institutes will provide the PLA’s new service branches, the Information Support Force (ISF) and Joint Logistics Support Force (JLSF), distinct channels to directly recruit high school graduates, strengthen their talent pool and train personnel to their needs.
Since 2016, the PLA has been undergoing a structural overhaul, to reshape the Chinese military build-up and improve its proficiencies to fit modern and hi-tech warfare by 2027, as they work towards achieving a “world-class” military by 2049.
The PLA disbanded its Strategic Support Force in April 2024 and inaugurated its functional units – the ISF, the Military Aerospace Force and the Cyberspace Force – as independent service branches reporting to the Central Military Commission. They are all deputy-theatre-grade forces alongside the JLSF, which was created in 2016.
The ISF is to coordinate the management of the military’s networks and communications systems, while the JLSF is to integrate the PLA’s logistics system across the country to support fast-paced joint operations.
The new institutions reorganize or combine some existing PLA academies, mainly those of the PLA Ground Force (PLAGF).
The Ground Force Service Academy will combine the Armoured Force Academy and Artillery and Air Defence Academy of the PLAGF.
The Joint Logistics Support Force Engineering University will merge the PLAGF’s Logistics Academy and Military Transportation University, including its subordinate Automobile Cadet College.
The Information Support Force Engineering University is composed of the Information and Communication Department of the National University of Defence Technology and the Communication Cadet College of the Army (Ground Force) Engineering University.
After the restructuring, the PLAGF will still operate numerous other academies, including the Command College; Engineering University; Infantry College; Special Combat Operation Academy; Army Aviation Corps Academy; Institute of NBC Defence (for nuclear, biological and chemical weapons); and Army Medical University.
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