China Friday passed its first-ever law on deploying its military which allows troops to take over businesses and other civilian resources and provides for conscription in times of national emergency.
The law would be useful in times of war and during social unrest as occurred in the regions of Tibet and Xinjiang in recent years, General Bai Zixing told reporters.
The bill was passed by the standing committee of the National People's Congress, ahead of the opening next week of the annual meeting of the full legislature, congress spokesman Han Ke told reporters.
According to the law, the standing committee will declare military mobilisation at times of state emergencies or security threats, following which the president must issue a mobilisation order.
The law was passed at a time of major expansion and modernisation of China's massive armed forces which has raised concern overseas about Beijing's military intentions.
The law also stipulates subsidies and preferred treatment to companies that manufacture products for national defence and lays out regulations for the military to expropriate civilian resources when mobilised.
Beijing has announced a series of double-digit military budgets throughout most of the past two decades and will announce its 2010 budget during the full congress in March.