PLA enthusiasts develop a big appetite for soldiers' rations

Demand from Chinese military enthusiasts is spurring food producers and online vendors to name-drop the People's Liberation Army.

In supermarkets in Beijing, consumers can find several flavors of canned pork, each saying it was produced by a former PLA-owned food factory.

"The PLA is still our biggest buyer. The products we sell on the market are as good as the ones we provide to the military," said a saleswoman at the Qinhuangdao Ocean Food Factory in Hebei province, which was the PLA No 4003 Factory before it was transferred to the local State-owned assets management authority.