The world’s largest army is to get a makeover. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has promised its 2.3 million soldiers a stylish new uniform that will no longer feature the red band that symbolises the Communist Party.

Out go the baggy olive green uniforms, to be replaced by a new pine-green look that will be introduced over the next three years at a cost of £400 million.

Every officer will adopt chest insignia, a feature of most Western uniforms, to display rank and length of service and the double-breasted ceremonial dress uniforms that were once reserved for military attachés will be available for all officers. General Liao Xilong, the director of the army’s general logistics department, said: “A uniform represents the image of the military and is a country’s calling card.”

The army’s chic new look has been kept secret since designers were summoned to come up with a style that would not look out of place alongside military uniforms in the West.

A first glimpse of the new uniforms came at the weekend, when Chinese troops assigned to Hong Kong paraded for President Hu Jintao during commemorations of the tenth anniversary of the territory’s return to Chinese rule. The new uniform should put an end to decades of debate over whether China’s Communist soldiers should display their rank – an issue that has divided the party ever since the volunteer force was formally founded as the People’s Liberation Army to commemorate its first big clash with the Nationalists in the Nanchang Uprising on August 1, 1927.

Efforts to create a professional army operating outside politics collapsed in the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, when all ranks and insignia were abandoned in an egalitarian frenzy. The only distinction was by the uniform fabric – wool for officers and cotton for others. It was not until the 1987 uniform – the tenth such makeover – that markings on the shoulder to distinguish rank were reintroduced.

For months army officers have been visiting the Sunshine Textile Group to monitor the weaving of cloth for the new officers’ uniforms. Company officials in Jiangsu province described the clothing order, which is thought to be the world’s biggest, as a state secret. Men are to wear T-shaped uniforms that give them broader shoulders, and better-cut, narrower trousers so that they appear taller and stronger.

For women, the cut is X-shaped, with a cinched waist. Senior engineer Yang Tingxin described the look as “much sassier”. Women have also been assigned a softer cap with a turned-up brim that will give them a more feminine look.

General Liao admitted that the old uniform failed to conform to international standards. That has now changed after three years of research, more than 100 refinements to the 1997 uniform created for the Hong Kong garrison and the introduction of 365 new items – from sweaters to gloves, socks, arm badges, name patches and even underwear.

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