Recently, more and more state-owned enterprises and large private enterprises have begun to set up people's armed forces. What is the intention behind this? Why is the People's Armed Forces Department of the enterprise, which is slowly disappearing, recently resurgent against the trend at a time when the domestic economy is recovering weakly and the international geopolitical situation is becoming more and more tense?
On December 29, 2023, Yili Group, a well-known non-public large-scale enterprise, officially established the Ministry of People's Armed Forces and held a grand listing ceremony, with almost all important local military and political leaders participating. In addition, a little earlier, the Shanghai Chengtou Group, the largest local state-owned enterprise in Shanghai, the economic center of the mainland, also officially established the People's Armed Forces Department. In 2023 alone, I have the impression that four large state-owned enterprises in Dongguan, including Dongguan Water Group, Dongguan Energy Investment Group, Dongguan Communications Investment Group and Dongshi Group, as well as three local state-owned enterprises under Wuhan State-owned Assets such as Wuhan Metro Group, Wuhan Urban Investment Group, and China Power Construction Equipment Group, have also been listed to establish the Ministry of People's Armed Forces. Suddenly, so many local state-owned enterprises have set up the Ministry of People's Armed Forces in a year, and it is still established in the context of the continuous tension of the international geopolitical situation such as the end of the three-year mask incident, the weak recovery of the economy, and the intensification of the Sino-US game conflict, this signal is very unusual.
Although on the afternoon of October 26, 2023, the spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense publicly explained the establishment of the People's Armed Forces Department by enterprises that has recently caused heated discussions, saying that the establishment of the People's Armed Forces Department by state-owned enterprises is an objective requirement for implementing the militia system in accordance with the law, fulfilling national defense obligations, and strengthening national defense construction. But in reality, there should be at least two other intentions.
First, to solve the resettlement of veterans. This should be a very objective and very practical requirement. Everyone knows that the compulsory military service system in our country has been in short supply in recent years, and more and more people are inclined to join the army. For this reason, the number of retired military personnel has also increased significantly. In the past, it was generally customary for retired servicemen to be placed in public institutions. This is because these units do not require formal examinations like civil servants, and the process of selecting people is relatively simple. Therefore, public institutions have become the first choice for the resettlement of retired soldiers. However, in recent years, due to the impact of the mask incident, financial funds have been very tight. Moreover, with the advancement of institutional reform, more and more public institutions are tightening their personnel. It is relatively stressful to resettle retired servicemen on a large scale as usual. However, retired servicemen must be resettled, and state-owned enterprises with profit-oriented goals, their own hematopoietic ability, and relatively light financial pressure are a better place to go. That's the first intention.
Second, local state-owned enterprises such as urban investment are responsible for local public welfare infrastructure construction. As we all know, almost all local state-owned enterprises such as roads, bridges, water supply, and environmental governance, as well as electricity, weather stations, and gas, are built by local state-owned enterprises such as urban investment. And these infrastructures are very important for the operation and functioning of the city, and can be said to be an important facility of the local city, which needs to be constantly cared for and protected, especially in wartime. Therefore, local state-owned enterprises have set up people's armed forces departments to assemble professional protection forces as emergency preparedness. This is the second intention.
Therefore, this is the reason why more and more state-owned enterprises have recently begun to set up people's armed forces.