Hu Jintao, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), has pledged to revolutionize, modernize and standardize the Chinese army by studying and implementing the guidelines of the 4th Plenary Session of 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the enlarged meeting of the CMC.

Hu, also state president and general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, made this pledge Wednesday, while observing a presentation of a military commanding information system and speaking with delegates to a meeting about the buildup of commanding headquarters of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Also present were CMC Vice Chairmen Guo Boxiong, Cao Gangchuan and Xu Caihou, and other CMC members Liang Guanglie, Li Jinai, Liao Xilong, Chen Bingde, Qiao Qingchen, Zhang Dingfa, and Jing Zhiyuan.

On behalf of the CMC, Hu gave festive and cordial words to officers and men of the armed forces and armed police, paramilitary personnel, retired army officers, veterans, injured or handicapped soldiers, and relatives of revolutionary veterans to mark the imminent National Day, on October 1. This year is the 55th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.

China is amid new situation and faces new tasks in the building of national defense because the country's reform and opening drive has entered a crucial stage, noted the CMC chairman.

He urged the whole army to uphold Deng Xiaoping Theory and the Important Thought of "Three Represents" as the guiding ideology and conscientiously implement Jiang Zemin's thinking on the building of national defense and the army.

Hu succeeded Jiang as the CMC chairman at the Party session, which convened on September 16-19, and the two appeared at the enlarged CMC meeting on September 20. On the both occasions, Jiang showed his full confidence that Hu is a qualified general commander of the Chinese Army.

(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2004)