The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012 announced the strategic aim of "promoting balanced development of the population in the long term", which applies to the entire population, as well as its subgroups, including the "national defense population".

The national defense population refers to that part of the population fit enough to join the military. The national defense population is critical to providing "sufficient" and "effective" supply of human resources to defend the country. "Sufficient" means enough people in the proper age group who can be enlisted in the military, and "effective" generally means satisfactory physical health of the group. In rough terms they mean quantity and quality.

The availability of eligible candidates has long been a problem with the military. Despite its huge population, China suffers from a shortage of military personnel. Because of the family planning policy, which allows most couples to have only one child, an overwhelming majority of youths today are the only children of their families. Most of these youths are not keen to join the military, because they need to take care of their parents.