Why China’s companies are recruiting their own militias

China has long used militias, known as People’s Armed Forces Departments, to supplement the People’s Liberation Army. During the rule of Mao Zedong, local governments recruited militiamen across China and gave them basic training and weapons. They were expected to help resist an invasion. But after Mao died in 1976, China started to worry less about such threats. The size of its militia forces shrunk from over 30m members to 8m in 2011, the last year for which there are official data.

Last year, though, China started promoting militias again. Army officers have been conducting surprise inspections of old militias retained by local governments to check that they are up to scratch. Officials have been encouraging companies to recruit new militias as well. Dozens of firms across China, both state-owned and private, have already done so. As well as banks, they include property developers, dairy producers and utility companies.

At first “companies were not very enthusiastic about forming militias”, an official in Jiangxi province told local media. “They feared it would delay production and hurt revenues.” So, he explained, the local government sweetened the deal by offering companies cheaper loans or better access to state investment funds. Now companies view militias as a “win-win” for both them and the government, he said.

Militiamen have a range of official duties. According to regulations, they should “serve in times of peace” by helping recruit for the regular army, aiding relief efforts after natural disasters and raising the public’s awareness of national security. Some helped to impose China’s covid-19 controls, according to local media reports. Others visit university campuses and give students a taste of military training. Militiamen are also supposed to be able to “fight in times of war”. But with only limited training they would not be much help in a battle, says Neil Thomas of the Asia Society, a think-tank in America.

Internal threats, not external ones, are really driving the push to add militias, argues Mr Thomas. More trained men give the authorities “more capacity to manage social instability in an era of slowing growth”, he says. China’s economy is going through a rough patch. A property crisis has sapped the savings of millions of Chinese. Many young people are unemployed and disillusioned. China Labour Bulletin, an NGO in Hong Kong, counted nearly 1,800 protests by workers last year, more than double the number in 2022.

Militias can also help the government deal with disgruntled veterans by giving them something to do, says James Char, of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. Demobilised soldiers in China often feel that the government has let them down. Their protests tend to be well organised and attract public sympathy. So companies are being asked to “absorb” unemployed veterans by paying them to train their militiamen.

For many ordinary Chinese people, the government’s renewed focus on militias is puzzling. “It’s weird, is Xining unstable?” asked one online commentator, referring to ICBC’s new militia and the city it is based in. “Aren’t the police forces and private security companies enough?” asked another. Apparently not for the Communist Party, which has long believed that “stability is paramount”.

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