Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, urged efforts to strengthen political guidance and deepen innovation-driven development to advance the high-quality modernisation of national defence and the armed forces. Xi made the remarks when presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Thursday. Military modernisation targets 2027 milestoneThe study session was held ahead of the PLA’s founding anniversary on August 1. Sun Zheng, from the strategic planning office of the Central Military Commission, delivered a lecture on promoting the high-quality modernisation of national defence and the armed forces and put forward suggestions. Combat capabilities remain the ultimate objective and testing criterion for promoting the high-quality modernisation of national defence and the armed forces, Xi said.