China may be the the ascendant economic and military power of this century but online revelations of the Chinese People's Liberation Army show soldiers have it rough and tough.

One sore point revealed in the article, at least for Chinese soldiers, is that their underpants were only fitted with elastic waistbands in the 21st century.

Like Us on Facebook

The article says an infantryman, up until the new underpants, would have to tussle with the rope of his big underpants, which would untie suddenly but could never be loosened when he he had to take a leak.

Chinese soldiers are used to bare fighting that harkens to the time when the Communist Party was waging a guerrilla war before the revolution.

The people's army may no longer be strapped for cash, but Beijing has tightened spending on its lowly foot soldiers.

The article says most Chinese infantrymen are still wearing steel helmets and only a small number have Kevlar ones and none of the standard issue has communication equipment.

Still, having helmets is still a blessing for soldiers.

The PLA article recalls that in a border skirmish with Vietnam in 1979 -- one of the most recent military actions the Chinese army waged -- helmets were scarce and they are dismissed as equipment of the weak.

U.S. Army equipment is a far cry from the Chinese practice, as the Pentagon provides dismounted soldiers with Kevlar boxers as protection against improvised explosive devices.

Underpants with an elastic waistband - and a standard camouflage pattern  - is as cutting edge as Chinese military underwear gets.

Next to the U.S., China has the biggest military budget worldwide.

But, the PLA website reveals second place did not in fact bring Chinese soldiers more sense of security.