What was one of the most important elements of any nation's military, according to Sun Tzu? Spies, and good intelligence on both friends and enemies. Frankly, China's reach on intelligence is rather pathetic. They really need to develop and train a spy and espionage core to make them on par with the classical agences like the CIA, KGB, and Mossad.
Currently, China gathers intelligence and technololgy with the "swarm" method. They simply send lots of people abroad, and intelligence officers talk to college students when they leave or return from abroad. Not everyone comes back, and not everyone brings back useful technology or information, but because there's so many university students and businessmen overseas, they manage to get enough. Another current practice is through the practice of acquring technology by requiring technology transfers as a prerequisite for doing business in China.
Where are the Chinese James Bonds? The USSR at its height had intelligence agents right in the White House, FBI, and CIA, and acquired intelligence on top-secret US information. They were able to infiltrate countless countries and pull off political assasinations, and spread propaganda, such as in third-world countries were the CIA was blamed for inventing AIDS. Mossad is damn cool, too. Israeli agents managed to get into another country, and abduct, kidnap, and drag back to Israel a scientist who informed the world that Israel has nukes. They are also able to pull off countless assassinations of Islamic leaders.
Wars or peace, friendly or hostile nation, spies are crucial for any self-respecting nation, and it was a Chinese man who was one of the first to point this out. China's current intelligence gathering apparatus is totally uncool. Desite cold-war fearmongering, China only in its wet dreams wishes it had anything as cool as a Manchurian Candidate.