The PLA at Home and Abroad - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

military integration (CMI, [军民一体化]) as the centerpiece
of this reform. CMI is described as the “integrated
and coordinated development of the defense
and civilian technology economies.” The decision to
pursue CMI is the result of a decade of intensive study
of international trends and a comprehensive self-assessment
that past efforts to retool the industry have
not met the needs of the PLA in preparing for future
warfare.
The measure of CMI’s success will be in those areas
where leap ahead and disruptive innovations are
most likely to occur; that is, in C4ISR systems, advanced
electronic components, high-end integrated
circuits, next generation broadband wireless mobile
communications, precision guidance and its tracking
and targeting assets, situational awareness, connectivity,
digital simulation facilities, etc. These technologies
may adjust the power balance in a more fundamental
way since, if successful, China would begin to compete
(or close the gap) with the United States where
it is strongest—such as advanced net-centric warfare,
high-speed communication links, and interoperable
data systems. It is these areas that will make by far the
highest demands in human and monetary resources
as well as industrial capacity, and where the dynamic
and large scale of the civilian sector will be most critical.
However, the prospects for success of China’s new
strategic direction in defense industry reform remain
decidedly uncertain, though not for lack of vision or
effort. The highest rungs of leadership in the military,
political, scientific, and industrial bureaucracies have
committed to forge ahead with civil-military integration
as the cornerstone of future defense reform.
However, the difficulty of harmonizing the very dis-
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