Recently, the four general headquarters/departments of the PLA issued a joint statement that military expenditure must be used to improve fighting capacity and the army should focus on "being able to fight and winning battles."

If an army only shouts slogans rather than trains hard, it cannot achieve timely victories, and cannot even be described as a real military.

It's hard to imagine that a corrupt army could defeat any foe. Research shows that before the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), the equipment of the Chinese military was no worse than that of the Japanese fleet; for two decades before the war, Japanese spending on the navy was only 60 percent that of the Chinese.

It was military corruption, instead of a lack of technology, that largely led to the Chinese defeat.

It's recorded that military discipline was not bad in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), but soldiers' pay and provisions were diverted and military equipment was sold on the market in later periods. The unhealthy tendency even got worse.

According to military regulations of the time, soldiers and officials below the rank of commander had to live on the ship throughout the year. However, in fact, half of them stayed ashore with their families in the evening. The navy even used warships to smuggle and sell opium.

All kinds of weapons were poorly maintained, and ammunition used for military exercises was smuggled and resold. No wonder that such a corrupt military was vulnerable. The lessons of history are thought-provoking.

Today, both soldiers and the masses detest military corruption.

Some military officials supply themselves with luxurious cars and houses, and dine and travel on public funds, while others engage in image projects and build facilities for personal comfort. They all damage relations between the army and the people to some extent.

The ancients said that it's difficult to follow the path of virtue but easy to succumb to vice. Corruption does the most harm to fighting capacity. The new regulations can prevent the use of military capital for corrupt purposes, so as to curb and stamp out corruption.

The way we spend army funding also decides the course and speed of army's modernization.

As the Chinese army has limited funds, extravagance and waste, as well as decision-making errors, are equal to grave crimes.

The Chinese military should promote austerity in work and life to use materiel where it is needed most. Image projects and the craving for things extravagant and foreign can only use up the army's fighting capacity.

In order to spend funds more efficiently, we need to prioritize expenditure on preparing for possible battles, new and high-tech weaponry and equipment, new fighting forces, practical military training, new-type military personnel training, and adjustments and reforms in policies and systems. Besides, funds should be used to build critical weapons rather than scattered over various fields.

Military funding requires legal oversight. The budget, examination, approval, distribution, settlement, reimbursement and auditing of expenditure should also be institutionalized and standardized.

In addition, it's necessary to regulate those who decide and use the expenditure, so that there are laws for them to act by and lawbreakers can be properly prosecuted. They also ought to accept supervision from the Party's discipline inspection commissions and public opinion to enhance the execution and constraint of financial laws and regulations.

Although the PLA suffered harsh conditions in its infancy, it defeated enemies who had far more advanced equipment. The reason for its success was its adherence to good behavior.

A clean army will fight well and have popular support. We look forward to a new trend of practicing economy in the army, which can push it to have cleaner, stronger hands.

The author is the executive vice president of the China Strategy Culture Promotion Association. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn