The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) often feels more capitalistic than many other militaries, where money frequently matters more than merit.

To enlist, especially in desirable units or from rural areas, families have long paid bribes or “fees” for entry or favorable exam results, sometimes tens of thousands of yuan.

Promotions are commonly bought: officers pay superiors large sums (occasionally millions of yuan for senior ranks) to secure advancement, good postings, or command positions. This pay-for-rank system has been exposed repeatedly in Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaigns, which have punished dozens of generals and thousands of officers since 2012.

Even routine things like military driving licenses or changing commands/assignments often require under-the-table payments in a guanxi-heavy bureaucracy.
This creates an internal market: pay cash to rise, then recover the investment through corruption or exploiting subordinates, turning rank into a profit source rather than pure service.

It stands in stark contrast to merit- or loyalty-based systems in many professional armies.

While Xi’s purges continue (including recent high-level CMC figures), the cash-for-power dynamic remains deeply rooted despite the Party’s socialist rhetoric.

In short: In the PLA you often literally pay to join, pay to rise, and pay to move, more like a business deal than a traditional military hierarchy.
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