The defence forces are set to begin a new round of demobilisation by 2000.
According to plans being studied by the Central Military Commission, the PLA might cut 100,000 or more personnel each year through much of the next decade.
This will be on top of the demobilisation of 500,000 personnel announced by President and military commission Chairman Jiang Zemin at the 15th Party Congress last year.
Diplomatic sources in Beijing said yesterday while details of the plans had yet to be finalised, the commission had, in principle, agreed to the large-scale cuts.
Most of the soldiers to be laid off will be junior staff in infantry units. Many non-combat units - such as academies, hospitals and engineering corps - will be abolished.
The sources said the development was in line with the goal of establishing a leaner, more elite PLA. It also dovetailed with the streamlining now going on in the government and Communist Party apparatus.
The total PLA staff establishment would be down by around 1.75 million to two million by 2010, the sources said.
