The "Firepower-2016 Qingtongxia" military drill which began last month, continues in northwest of China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. 

In the latest stage of the live-fire exercise, self-propelled artillery guns and long-range rockets have been used for the first time. Each of China's five commands will send one artillery brigade to take part in the drill which runs until the end of August.

Authorities say they hope to improve the capabilities of organization and command, as well as the overall combat ability of troops. Similar drills were also staged in 2014 and 2015. 

"In the future, combat will be based on information technology. Troops that utilise information technology will play a key role. The application of the self-propelled artillery system indicates substantial progress in the combat capabilities of our troops. This is our direction of development. And artillery troops using advanced technology will serve as a new and major force in combat in the future," said Chen Baofeng, brigade commander.