After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the officers of the National Government Army and some German-style equipment divisions were distributed with leather boots, but most of the officers and men still wore the traditional cloth shoes and straw sandals of the China Army. At that time, the best army of military boots was the Indian Expeditionary Force in China. In the early days of entering India, soldiers were provided with black leather-soled low-waisted field boots, black "Gala boots" with rubber soles and English brown shoes with rubber soles. At the same time, the expeditionary force stationed in India also made some military shoes, such as black shoes and sandals with rubber soles. As for officers, in addition to British black boots, American tan 152mm suede boots and riding boots were also distributed. Later, some combat troops successively distributed M43 boots and M42 boots of the US military. The most "awesome" paratroopers are elite paratroopers. Almost every paratrooper has a pair of high-waisted paratroopers like soldiers in China and the United States.

During the War of Liberation, due to the general encirclement and suppression by the National Government, the supplies of revolutionary armed forces led by the Communist Party of China (CPC) were difficult, and most of their military shoes were coarse cloth shoes handmade by rural women.

After liberation, with the mass production of rubber shoes, cloth shoes changed from combat shoes to casual shoes. It is understood that in the middle of the 20th century, the whole army also distributed a kind of circular cloth shoes, commonly known as "shoes for the elderly", but not long after, "shoes for the elderly" gradually disappeared from the feet of PLA soldiers. Finally, wearing military "shoes for the elderly" has become a "patent" for naval submarine forces. The reason is simple-to prevent "air pollution". If the submarine soldier works in a closed cabin wearing rubber shoes, it is conceivable that the smell is really bad. Therefore, circular cloth shoes with good air permeability became one of the most popular munitions of submarine forces at that time.