BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday instructed the armed forces to improve their combat capabilities and readiness for war.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), made the remarks while inspecting the CMC joint battle command center as its commander in chief.

"The CMC should lead the armed forces to be ready to fight and win wars, and to undertake the missions and tasks of the new era entrusted to them by the Party and the people," Xi said.