BLUF: The PLA completely changed the way they train and employ NCOs - moving toward Western military doctrine. Not there completely, but steadily.
In the book, "China Inc.: How The Rise Of The Next Superpower Challenges America And The World", by Ted C. Fishman (April 2006), the author makes the comment, (paraphrased) If you have not studied China in the past 10 years, you don't know China.
In the wake of the Cultural Revolution (1965-1976), CPC leaders sought to decentralize control of the PLA to an extent in an effort to avoid future interference in political-civil relations. The decline and breakup of the Soviet empire was one significant factor enabling the Chinese to develop a PLA more focused on quality than sheer volume of troops.
The change in attitude toward the NCO corps of the PLA is a recent one, with the traditional role of the NCO understood to be one of “leader in rank only”, and a weak educational system to support that end. The PLA recently revamped the education of its NCOs. To become an NCO, certain educational requirements must be met. In 2005 for example, “The PLA established a goal of raising all junior NCOs’ education levels to high school equivalency, and all senior NCOs to the level of 3-year college (the Chinese equivalent of technical school) graduates by 2008. Although there is currently a lack of doctrinal standards for NCO education across the PLA, efforts are underway to accomplish this.
Over the last decade, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has rapidly expanded a program to increase technical capabilities across its enlisted corps by developing what it calls “made-to-order” noncommissioned officers (NCO). These targeted training NCOs (定向培养士官) receive technical training at civilian institutions before entering the PLA with NCO rank and benefits, bypassing the junior enlisted ranks altogether. While the program is not likely to become the PLA’s main source of NCOs, its continued expansion indicates growing trust in its outcomes and highlights its increasing importance in a suite of PLA recruitment and talent development programs.
One great sources of recent information on China:
Dennis J. Blasko, who was a US Army attaché in Beijing 1992-1996 is a retired Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army with 23 years of service as a Military Intelligence Officer and Foreign Area Officer specializing in China. His book "The Chinese Army Today: Tradition and Transformation for the 21st Century" (2011) and other recent research papers are great sources. (He graciously reviewed my book on PLA Amphibious Forces in 2012.)
"There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.”
― Lao Tzu
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