ABSTRACT
It is now three-quarters of a century since the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) first began to become involved in economic production. During this time the PLA has engaged in everything from farming to telecommunications, from producing boots and other basic necessities to pharmaceuticals for the export market. The PLA has even contributed to China’s tourist industry. Much of this activity has been driven by the PLA’s need to be at least partially self-sufficient.1 But there is also a political dimension, both in terms of the PLA’s economic activities playing a political purpose for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and in terms of the impact of that activity on party-army relations. This chapter looks at PLA economic activity from its inception to the present and assumes that examining the history of the PLA’s involvement in economic activity offers insights into understanding the evolution of civil-military relations in China. This chapter also assumes that studying the PLA economy not only allows us to better understand Chinese civil-military relations in the past, it helps us to understand some of the current trends and possible future developments in these relations.
