This CNN article is just a tweaked copypaste of earlier FT reporting. The FT article has no sources and a credulous comment section, some of whom are alleging that ChatGPT is an equally reliable source: https://www.ft.com/content/d6b2e4d6-2f84-4ef9-bf99-10d76d92d... The FT article says that dozens of state-owned enterprises have set up PAFDs in the last 12 months but fails to mention that China has over a million SOEs.

In the english-language internet there are only two prior articles about PAFDs; an RFA article from the third of October last year,: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/enterprises-militias-... and a VOA article from the 7th on November.: https://www.voanews.com/a/why-is-china-highlighting-militias... Of these two, the RFA article has some sources but they aren't great and both of these news orgs can be alleged to be 100% biased (regardless of what the facts may be) for obvious reasons.

Confusingly, the system for enlisted infantry recruiters also uses the PAFD acronym which means that regardless of search engine, half the results (War on the Rocks, RAND, Asian LII, JSTOR, DoD, DTIC, mod.gov.cn) are useless.

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Anyway, let's suppose that it is happening as CNN/FT reports. There is an important context question: Is this an order from the CPC at the top or is this our perspective of an ordinary corporate fad in China, their equivalent to six sigma?