China finds 40 problems in its troops' training

Chinese military has identified a host of problems after conducting massive military exercises for the first time to sharpen the troops' fighting capability which if not rectified will hinder its ability to win wars.

The 2.3 million strong People's Liberation Army has issued a document detailing 40 problems with current exercises featuring real battle scenarios, official media reported.

"If the problems are not rectified, the PLA's ability to fight and win will be hindered for sure," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the military headquarters as saying.

"The list will help the army focus on its weaknesses and force them to learn how to fight," it said.

The PLA general staff headquarters listed existing problems with military training by its land, navy, air forces and artillery troops, the PLA Daily newspaper reported.

Under the exercises, the military resorted to massive mobilisation of troops on a scale which observers say it has not done before.

The challenges include soldiers' personal problems, current methods and standards of military training and issues of work style in the army, the report said.

The issues were singled out based on assessment of troop performance in routine exercises or joint drills with foreign armies, it said.

The exercises were held in the back drop of escalating tensions with Japan over the disputed islands and with Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei on the South China Sea dispute as well as the big American push under the Asia Pivot concept to deploy majority of its assets in Asia Pacific.

China too has a border dispute with India with tensions recurring over aggressive patrolling along the Line of Actual Control, resulting in tense stand offs.

The exercises which disrupted flight schedules for several weeks last month were being held on a massive scale to win regional wars, a concept being advocated by the Chinese leadership for long.

But it was only after President Xi, who is also head of the military and ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), came to power that the military began exercises with troops divided into Chinese and enemy troops to train under real battle conditions.

Xi has repeatedly asked the troops to be prepared to win actual battles since he took office in 2012.