The Chinese military has opened its annual training sessions for 2024, focusing on improving combat capability.

On Tuesday, the People's Liberation Army Ground Force held a launch ceremony at a training ground in Guangdong to mark the beginning of the annual training.

General Li Qiaoming, commander of the Ground Force, and General Qin Shutong, the force's political commissar, took part in the ceremony and addressed more than 3,000 troops from a combined brigade.

After the ceremony, Li and Qin and other top commanders instructed troops and also checked other units' training via video link.

Combat ships, submarines and aircraft from the PLA Navy have been mobilized for live-fire exercises. Sailors and naval aviators honed their skills in gunfire, missile launching, electronic warfare operations and air-defense and anti-submarine tasks.

The PLA Air Force said its aviation and air-defense units have taken part in intense drills since the beginning of the new year, publishing a video showing aircraft, radars and missile launchers in action.

The People's Armed Police Force also organized mass gatherings at its units' training grounds across the country, putting officers and soldiers in realistic battle scenarios.

Meanwhile, all of the PLA's regional theater commands — central, northern, eastern, southern and western — have ordered forces under their direct control to carry out training and exercises according to the latest annual plans. Commanders stressed that troops must continue to improve their joint operational capabilities.

In another development, the PLA Southern Theater Command announced that it has organized naval and air forces to conduct routine patrols in the South China Sea on Wednesday and Thursday.

It said its forces always remain on high alert and will resolutely defend national sovereignty, security, and maritime rights and interests.

Any military activities by foreign forces aiming to cause disturbances and tensions or sensationalize regional situations in the South China Sea are under close watch by the armed forces, the command noted.