The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has launched an exercise to test the long-distance maneuverability of its land forces under real-war conditions, according to an officer with the Headquarters of the PLA Shenyang Military Area Command.

The exercise is being conducted in accordance with recent instructions by Hu Jintao, chairman of the Central Military Commission, who has ordered the Army to pay greater attention to military exercise, and the essence of the recent PLA conference on military training.

A PLA brigade, who plays the role as the "Red Army", left its barracks in northeast China on Tuesday and will trek in a dozen days to arrive at a training base of the PLA Beijing Military Area Command, where it will fight with a "Blue Army" brigade belonging to the Beijing area command.

The "Red Army" brigade, which travels to the destination by train and its own vehicles, will hold a series of drills on war preparation, long-distance maneuver, firing, self-protection, and logistic work.

Over 50 experts from several military academies and training bases have formed a direction board to examine the results of the exercise.

(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2006)