BEIJING — Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli urged efforts to terminate all paid services provided by the armed forces and the armed police on June 2.

It is a vital decision aimed at building a powerful army, said Zhang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, in a teleconference.

Party committees, governments and troops at all levels should work together to fulfill the “major political task,” adhere to the correct direction of military reform, and root out corruption in the army, Zhang said.

The vice-premier asked government departments concerned to coordinate with the military and create favorable conditions to ensure the completion of the task on time.

They were ordered to appropriately deal with various problems that may emerge, promote the reform in accordance with the law, and safeguard the security of military assets as well as the rights and interests of the public.

Fan Changlong, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), warned of the complexity of the task to end all military paid service during the conference.

Resources for terminated paid service will be used to improve the work and living standards of the troops, Fan said.

Since 1998, the armed forces and armed police have not been allowed to run businesses, but were permitted to use surplus resources to provide paid services to the public in 15 fields, as China’s service industry was weak at the time, said Jiang Luming, professor at the National University of Defense Technology.

However, with the development of the market economy and imperfections in the paid service system in recent years, corruption cases in the military were exposed due to such services, Jiang added.

In February 2016, the CMC issued a circular on the termination of military paid services. All military paid services will be terminated by the end of June 2018.