China's anti-corruption drive has recently exposed the rampant buying and selling of military ranks in the country, making the armed forces' ability to fight very questionable, analysts say.

President Xi Jinping started the Foxhunt Project when he took office in 2012 with the aim of taking down corrupt government officials. But military officials seemingly go against Xi's campaign by condoning the practice of buying their way up to higher ranks.

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Around 30 generals have already been taken down from their posts, showing the stark reality of corruption in China's military system.

According to a retired Chinese officer, the buying and selling of ranks has been a regular practice in the past ten years. He shares that being promoted to general will cost  CNY10 million while being a senior colonel costs more than half of the earlier stated amount.

Analysts and experts raised their concern over the ability of the Chinese military to combat if ever a war arises because the top-ranking officials did not earn their post the way other military officials did. They pointed that most of those who wish to advance to highter ranks are just after the military housing and weapons procurement.

Tai Ming Cheung, an expert on the Chinese military, said in a statement, "If you can't depend on the military personnel system to select the best and most competent officers, especially for key operational positions, then trust and respect for the chain of command begins to get eroded."

If and when this happens, the discipline of the officials lower than the top officials are undermined and it can become a systematic issue, thus the whole military will soon collapse, said Tai.

The Chinese defense ministry has not yet commented on this report and did not yet confirm on whether or not there are really buying and selling of ranks happening in the military.

According to Retired Major General Yang Chungchang, military graft has become so severe when Xi started to rule the country. Xi is the chairman of the 11-man Central Military Commission and is the only civilian in the group.

Although the reports remain unconfirmed, the impact of the corruption in the military affects the professionalism of China and their combat capabilities. Also, the Foxhunt project that cracked down on generals reportedly weakened the military system because although these officials were corrupt, they were said to be effective commanders.

TagsFoxhunt, Military, Anti-graft