September 14 to 18, 1981, PLAAF and then Beijing Military Area Command held a live-fire defensive exercise under modern conditions in north China. It was the largest-scale exercise with the most soldiers and weapons in Chinese military history, decided and led by Deng Xiaoping personally, who, on the second day after the exercise, made an important speech, calling for efforts to “build the PLA into a powerful, modern and standard revolutionary armed force".
