Reporter: It is reported that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, has recently adopted the Reservists Law of the People's Republic of China. What's your comment on the significance of enacting this law? What are the important policies and institutions proposed in the law?
Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense: On December 30, 2022, the 38th Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress reviewed and adopted the Reservists Law of the People's Republic of China. On the same day, Chinese President Xi Jinping signed the No. 127 presidential order, promulgating that the law will come into force on March 1, 2023. The Reservists Law is an important legislation for national defense and military development. It will act as a fundamental and comprehensive law to regulate the work of reservists' affairs in all aspects and marks an important achievement in the reform of military policies and institutions. It will be of great significance to strengthening law-based construction of the ranks of reservists and promoting the transformation and development of the PLA's reserve force.
Guided by the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the Reservists Law implements the Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military, upholds the Party's absolute leadership over the military and upholds an overall national security outlook, implements the military strategy for the new era. Oriented to military needs, directed by combat preparedness, and focused on quality construction, the law strives to improve the reservists' level and ability to perform their missions and tasks. As for institutional design, the law features an integrated service process of "selection, training, appointment, management, recruitment and retirement", striving to build a complete set of institutions targeting the reservists, which are clearly oriented, authorized and normalized with supporting systems for the new era. The promulgation and implementation of the law marks a breakthrough in the reform of the reservist system, will certainly facilitate recruiting talents from a larger scope, broader fields and at higher levels, strengthening the construction of the ranks of reservists in all areas from an even higher starting point. The law provides a strong legal guarantee for promoting the transformation and development of the PLA's reserve force in the new era.
The law, composed of 65 articles in 10 chapters, comprehensively regulates the leadership and management system, identity attribute and classification of reservists, as well as their military ranks, selection and replacement, education and training, promotion and appointment, routine management, recruitment, benefit guarantee, retirement, and legal responsibilities. The law aims to strengthen the reservists' concept of serving in accordance with the law by clearly defining their mission and identity; to realize specialized and refined management of reservists by establishing the classification and grading system and opening up channels for capacity development; to incentivize the whole society to respect and give preferential treatment to the reservists by improving the honor and treatment system; and by clarifying legal responsibilities, to build a healthy institutional environment with well-defined power and responsibility in a normative and well-organized way, and promote the formation of a new pattern of military-led, military-civilian coordination, and the performance of responsibilities in accordance with law.