ABSTRACT
The first two decades of PLA modernization (from about 1979 to 1998) set the stage for a new level and intensity in Chinese military training which began after 1999 and continues to this day. In the 1980s and 1990s the PLA occasionally would conduct large-scale training exercises, where more than one full division was in the field at the same time, some of which were publicized by the General Political Department’s propaganda apparatus in books and film. But the most advanced training was undertaken by only a part of the large force, with priority given to rapid reaction units, and was often limited in duration, complexity, and realism.1
