BEIJING (Reuters) - China's ruling Communist Party will seek to build the capability to win an "informationized war" by 2020 as part of accelerated reform of the armed forces, state media reported on Tuesday.
China will make significant progress towards realising "mechanization and informatization" by 2020, and build a system capable of "winning an informationized war and effectively fulfilling the mandated mission of building modern military strength with Chinese characteristics", the Xinhua news agency reported.
The reform pledge was contained in a communique issued nearly a week after the Party's Central Committee held a high-level policy meeting to set a 13th Five-Year Plan.
Xinhua released parts of the document via its microblog.
China will advance "rule of law" over the armed forces, Xinhua said, and reach reform goals by 2020.
The leadership is expanding a sprawling anti-graft campaign that has ensnared high-ranking military officers.
Fuelled by double-digit annual spending on defence, China's growing military strength and increasingly assertive stance on territorial disputes have rattled the United States and its allies in Asia.