Nowhere is the nexus of the military-industrial complex in the PRC more evident than in the codification of the 1997 "16-Character Policy," which makes it official PRC policy to deliberately intertwine state-run and commercial organizations for casting a cloud of ambiguity over PRC military modernization. In their literal translation, the 16 characters mean as follows:

Jun-min jiehe (Combine the military and civil);
Ping-zhan jiehe (Combine peace and war);
Jun-pin youxian (Give priority to military products);
Yi min yan jun (Let the civil support the military).


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If the military and civil is combined how then can foreign nations and companies make the distinction between civil and military use? I premise of being allowed to sell military equipment to China is that if it has a civilian use and thus not strictly military it can be sold. However when it comes to China what's the difference?

Jun-min jiehe (Combine the military and civil);
Ping-zhan jiehe (Combine peace and war);
Jun-pin youxian (Give priority to military products);
Yi min yan jun (Let the civil support the military).

What it really means is: 

 

1. so that military industry can change gear to produce consumer products.

 

2. so that the factories can keep running on their own while there is no demand from the military.

 

3. so military factories are still part of the military, not military sponsored money making units.

 

4. after making some profit from the market, spare some money to enhance PX quality.