China's armed forces will dress up all servicemen in new
uniforms within three years, said General Liao Xilong, chief of the
People's Liberation Army General Logistics Department, in an
interview with Xinhua News Agency yesterday.
The PLA garrison troops in the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region put on new uniforms on July 1, the 10th anniversary of Hong
Kong's return to China.
Military officers and civil cadres outside Hong Kong and
rank-and-filers in the national capital of Beijing and the Macau
Special Administrative Region will change into the new uniforms as
of August 1, the 80th anniversary of the foundation of the PLA.
Servicemen elsewhere will put on the new uniforms the moment they
are issued.
The change of army uniform and bedding is expected to add an
additional cost of six billion yuan (US$789 million), the general
said.
The per capita expense of bedding and clothing for the PLA would
still be lower than the world average after current uniform
upgrading, he said.
"The expenditure on new army uniforms is necessary, because
uniforms serve as the name card of a country, revealing the
discipline and bearing of armed forces. But we must make every cent
count, he stressed.
Explaining the three-year cycle of uniforms upgrading, Liao said
"We take into consideration of garment industry's production cycle
and the PLA's current financial status. In this way, we could make
full use of existing inventory and avoid wastes."
(Shanghai Daily July 3, 2007)
