China NPC Passes Defense Mobilization Law Revision Broadening Civilian Asset Requisition for Short-of-War Scenarios

China's National People's Congress Standing Committee voted on August 28 to adopt a revised National Defense Mobilization Law, the first update since the original 2010 statute, and set it to take effect October 1 12. The revised statute runs 14 chapters and 82 articles, cleared after two rounds of NPC Standing Committee deliberation in April and August 2026, with the chapter on civilian resources retitled to cover requisition, expropriation, and compensation 12. The revision defines national defense mobilization as measures taken when sovereignty, unification, territorial integrity, security, or development interests face threats, and it authorizes conversion of civilian transportation, industrial, technology, and personnel capacity into wartime resources 123. The law adds language on requisition and "expropriation" of civilian resources and directs the state to promote advanced technologies, including emerging fields, within the mobilization system 1. ISW-AEI's analysis of the text noted the revised wording shifts from "requisitioning" to "expropriating" private property and could allow invocation below the threshold of war 4. A Taiwanese official told Taipei Times the law is a preparatory measure tied to Xi Jinping's stated goal of "national unification" and requires men 18-60 and women 18-55 to perform national defense duties, with reservists mandated to undergo training, once a mobilization status is declared 3.