Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday conferred military flags on the five newly-established theater commands of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING, Feb. 2 -- China's move to establish five new theater commands is "a breakthrough and a historic step" in setting up a joint battle command system for the military, a PLA Daily commentary said on Tuesday.

The commentary comes a day after the announcement that China has regrouped its previous seven military area commands into five new battle zones -- the eastern, western, southern, northern and central theater commands -- in its push to reform the People's Liberation Army(PLA).

In the previous commands, the administration and command systems were not managed separately, it said, identifying unclear functions and ineffective joint command systems as institutional barriers to winning wars.

With the new move, the theater commands can enable relatively separate management of the administration and command system and better coordination among different military services, it said.

As such, a more efficient command chain for battles can be put into place, according to the commentary.

The article stressed that the new system must be "absolutely loyal, resourceful in fighting, efficient in commanding and courageous and capable of winning wars."

The principle of the Central Military Commission taking charge of overall military administration, theater commands focusing on combat and different military branches pursuing their own development should also be strictly observed, the PLA Daily said.