Naval expert Li Jie was invited to be a guest expert at the People’s Daily Military Forum. At the Forum, Li discussed the Chinese PLA’s development of submarines. Li Jie said, “The functionality and performance of China’s self-designed submarines are close to those made by the United States, Russia, Germany, and Japan. Only the propelling plant, noise, and some other factors still have some minor gaps as compared with the advanced countries.” 

Huanqiu reported that, according to the website of a Russian think tank, China is now a leading world exporter of certain munitions. Based on the 2004 to 2011 statistics of the Russian think tank, China ranks 10th in the world and 1st in Asia in arms exports. With a total value of $8.73 billion, China’s arms exports surpass that of all other Asian Pacific countries combined. It exports 51.65% of the total value of all arms in the Asian Pacific region.

Source: Huanqiu, December 11, 2012
http://mil.huanqiu.com/observation/2012-12/3366012.html

According to Huanqiu, on the morning of December 13, 2012, a Chinese maritime surveillance airplane entered into the territorial air space of the Diaoyu Islands (Senkaku Islands in Japan). “This was another significant step forward this year to reinforce the safeguarding of our sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands. … The Japanese air force responded with eight F-15 fighters and an Early Warning and Control aircraft (AWACS) to intercept the Chinese aircraft." The Huanqiu article stated that Japan no longer has actual control of the Senkaku Islands and that the dispute has now entered a new stage.

Source: Huanqiu, December 14, 2012
http://mil.huanqiu.com/paper/2012-12/3379857.html

From December 8 to 10, 2012, Chinese Communist Party leader and military head Xi Jinping conducted an inspection tour of the Guangzhou military base. While addressing the local military leaders, Xi emphasized that “the greatest dream of the Chinese nation in modern times is the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The dream is a dream of a powerful nation. To the army, it is also the dream of a strong army.” Xi further stressed that to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, (we) must adhere to unifying the efforts to empower the nation by empowering the army; (we must) strive to develop a strong national defense and a strong military.