China Offers USD 870 Million Worth Projects To Private Firms For Military Equipment Research

China is offering 6 billion yuan ($870 million) investment for research on equipment and weapons to the private Chinese firms and institutes for boosting military-civilian integration and upgrade military technologies.

The Central Military Commission's equipment development department issued a guideline on its website saying that 2,000 projects will be funded under the plan this year, Global Times reported Monday citing a statement made on  Zhuangbei Keji, a WeChat account affiliated with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Daily.

The website also published a project on the temperature adaptability of solid propellants, which has been allotted 1 million yuan.

According to a naval expert, private firms and institute involving in military technology research could help reduce costs.  “Getting private companies involved in military technology research can reduce costs, boost military-civilian integration and help upgrade military technology”, Li Jie, a Beijing-based naval expert was quoted as saying.

In February this year, the department released a document on boosting military-civilian integration in weapons development which introduces a set of measures to liberalize and regulate the weapons sector, including slashing restrictions on the types of arms that private firms are allowed to develop and piloting commercial services for military procurement in the aerospace industry.