Speaking to troops in central China's Hubei province, Xi said the army must "seriously investigate and deal with corruption and unhealthy tendencies among officers and soldiers," according to military-backed outlet PLA Daily.
Xi inspected weapons and was briefed at the headquarters of China's airborne forces, a unit under the People's Liberation Army Air Force, state media said.
"(We) must keep firmly in mind our duties and missions, increase our sense of war preparedness and tighten our preparations for military struggles," Xi told soldiers in Xiaogan city.
Xi has overseen a wide-ranging crackdown on official corruption since coming to power just over a decade ago -- which has spread to the military -- but critics have said it serves as a way to purge political rivals.
Last October, former defence minister Li Shangfu was ousted after seven months in the role following a lengthy absence from public view.
The Chinese navy on Monday also cautioned officers against online dating scams and gambling, warning troops to not let down their guards in a social media post directed at soldiers born in the 1990s and 2000s.
"Officers and soldiers should be vigilant at all times," it said in a post to its official WeChat account.
"Don't lose your principles."
In July, a top Chinese official in Beijing's secretive Rocket Force was placed under investigation for corruption.
Sun Jinming was kicked out of the ruling Communist Party and placed under investigation for "grave violations of party discipline and laws", state news agency Xinhua said at the time, using a common euphemism for graft.
At least two other high-ranking officers connected to the Rocket Force, a relatively new unit of the Chinese military, have also been axed for graft in recent years.
The Rocket Force oversees China's arsenal of strategic missiles, both conventional and nuclear, and can both deter and strike, according to the government.
US Navy contractor 'Fat Leonard' sentenced to 15 years in prison
Los Angeles, United States (AFP) Nov 5, 2024 -
Leonard Francis, the Malaysian military contractor known as "Fat Leonard," was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday for his role in the US Navy's worst ever corruption scandal.
Francis, 60, was also ordered to pay $20 million in restitution to the US Navy by a federal judge in San Diego and to forfeit $35 million in ill-gotten gains, the US Attorney's office for the Southern District of California said in a statement.
Francis, who ran a military contracting company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, out of Singapore, was arrested in 2013.
He pleaded guilty in 2015 to offering bribes to naval officers to steer work to his shipyards in Asia-Pacific ports, then overcharging the navy to the tune of $35 million.
According to court documents, Francis handed out more than $500,000 in cash bribes and provided prostitutes, first class travel, luxury hotel stays and lavish meals to naval officers, along with expensive gifts like designer handbags and watches.
Francis had been scheduled to be sentenced in September 2022, but he cut off a GPS ankle bracelet he was wearing while under house arrest and fled to Venezuela.
He was returned to the United States from Venezuela in December 2023 in a prisoner swap between the two countries.
As part of a plea agreement, Francis provided government investigators with detailed information which led to the conviction of a number of high-ranking US Navy officers.
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