A draft revision of the Law on National Defense Education sets out clear requirements for the national defense knowledge and concepts students need to possess at different levels of schooling.

The 39-article draft was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, for review on Tuesday.

It is the first revision of the Law on Defense Education, which was passed in 2001.

Shen Chunyao, head of the NPC Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission, explained the necessity of revising the law to lawmakers on Tuesday, saying it was "in response to the complex national security situation and the need to enhance the national defense awareness of the entire population".

"At present, our country faces a complex and ever-changing security and development environment, with various foreseeable and unforeseeable risk factors significantly increasing, and traditional security threats intertwined with non-traditional security threats," he said.

According to the Constitution, defending the homeland and resisting aggression is the sacred duty of every citizen, Shen said.

To implement that provision and safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, it is necessary to amend the Law on Defense Education, improve national defense education system in schools, and enhance China's defense capabilities and national cohesion, he said.

The draft defines defense education as patriotism-centered education for all citizens in theoretical knowledge, skills and psychology related to defense and military development.

The draft also specifies for the first time the levels of national defense knowledge and concepts that students at each stage, from primary school to college, need to master.

It says primary school students should have "a certain level of defense awareness", while junior high school students should grasp "preliminary defense knowledge and skills". Senior high school students should have "basic knowledge, skills and concepts on national defense", while college students should acquire "solid defense theories, knowledge and skills".

In another change to the existing law, the draft explicitly stresses the leadership of the Communist Party of China in organizing defense education.

Shen said reform of the national defense education system has been basically completed, with the defense education functions previously undertaken by the military and local authorities now the responsibility of the CPC Central Committee and local Party committees at all levels.