The Central Theater Command () is one of the five theater commands of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the China, People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five Military branch, service branches: the People's ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, and was founded on 1 February 2016. Its predecessors were the

Beijing Military Region The Beijing Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. From the mid 1980s to 2017, it had administration of all military affairs within Beijing city, Tianjin city, Hebei province, Shanxi province, ...

and

Jinan Military Region The Jinan Military Region was a PLA Military Region located in the east of the People's Republic of China, covering the Shandong and Henan Provinces, which also formed military districts. It appears that Yang Dezhi was one of the first commander ...

. The

International Institute for Strategic Studies The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is a British research institute or think tank in the area of international affairs. Since 1997, its headquarters have been Arundel House in London, England. The 2017 Global Go To Think ...

attributes to the command of 300,000 personnel, consisting of three group armies

81st Group Army The 81st Group Army (), formerly the 65th Group Army, is a military formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Forces (PLAGF). The 81st Group Army is one of twelve total group armies of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground for ...

82nd Group Army The 82nd Group Army (), formerly the 38th Group Army, is a military formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Forces (PLAGF). The 82nd Group Army is one of twelve total group armies of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground forces ...

83rd Group Army The 83rd Group Army (), formerly the 54th Group Army, is a military formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Forces (PLAGF). The 83rd Group Army is one of twelve total group armies of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground f ...

(Formerly 27th Army, 38th Army, and the 65th Army), two armoured divisions, one mechanised infantry division, five motorised divisions, one artillery division, three armoured, seven motorised infantry, four artillery, a total of five various anti-aircraft brigades, and one anti-tank regiment. The command is also augmented by the , which consists of the 1st Guard and the 3rd Guard Divisions, and the

Beijing Garrison Honor Guard Battalion The Beijing Garrison Honor Guard Battalion (), officially the PLA Honour Guard, is a ceremonial honour guard and specialised unit of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). It is composed of representatives of the People's Liberation Army Ground For ...

and Color Guard Company, both of them are charged with

public duties Public duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role. Armenia Since September 2018, the Honour Guard Battalion of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia has ...

, and is also home to the PLA Navy (PLAN)

North Sea Fleet The Northern Theater Command Navy (), or the North Sea Fleet (NSF; ) is one of the three fleets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, under the Northern Theater Command. In September 1950 the Qingdao Army Base was redesignated as a naval ...

and the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) 10th Air Force Corps. In addition to guarding the capital, the CTC is the main military theater command in charge of training key personnel for leadership positions through the numerous military academies in the region.

Area of responsibility

The Central Theater Command's area of responsibility (AOR) consists of the previous

, including the capital

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

and the neighboring provinces and directly governed municipalities of

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-leve ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

and

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The p ...

. The command's primary responsibility is the defense of the nation's capital,

, and it serves as the national strategic military reserve.

Commanders

* Han Weiguo (January 2016 – August 2017) * Yi Xiaoguang (August 2017 – August 2021) *

Lin Xiangyang Lin Xiangyang (; born October 1964) is a general ('' shangjiang'') of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) who is the current commander of Eastern Theater Command, in office since January 2022. Previously he served as commander of Central Theater Co ...

(August 2021 – present)

PLA Ground Forces

Regiments/Units

81st Group Army

* 7th Heavy Combined Arms Brigade * 70th Light Combined Arms Brigade, located in Tangshan Prefecture,

Hebei Province Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

* 162nd Motorized Infantry Division, located in Anyang Prefecture,

Henan Province Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

* 189th Medium Combined Arms Brigade * 194th Combined Arms Brigade * 195th Heavy Combined Arms Brigade, located in Yutian County,

82nd Group Army

* 6th Heavy Combined Arms Brigade, located in Nankou Town Area,

Changping District Changping District (), formerly Changping County (), is a district situated in the suburbs of north and northwest Beijing. History Changping County and Jundu County which administered the area were established in the Han Dynasty. Changping was i ...

* 80th Medium Combined Arms Brigade * 127th Light Mechanized Infantry Division (a.k.a. the Red Army Division), located in Luoyang Prefecture,

* 151st Heavy Combined Arms Brigade * 188th Heavy Combined Arms Brigade * 196th Light Combined Arms Brigade

83rd Group Army

* 11th Heavy Combined Arms Brigade * 58th Medium Combined Arms Brigade, located in Xuchang Prefecture,

* 60th Medium Combined Arms Brigade, located in Minggang Town Area, Xinyang Prefecture,

* 113th Combined Arms Brigade, located in Baoding Prefecture,

* 131st Combined Arms Brigade * 193rd Medium Combined Arms Brigade, located in Xuanhua District, Zhangjiakou Prefecture,

PLA Beijing Garrison

* 1st Guard Division , located in Haidian, Beijing **3rd Guard Regiment (Heavy Infantry) **4th Guard Regiment (Light Quick reaction force) **5th Guard Regiment (Light Quick reaction force) **

Central Guard Regiment The Central Guard Unit (CGU; PLA Unit 61889), formerly known as the Central Guard Regiment (CGR; PLA Unit 8341) is a unit of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) of the People's Republic of ChinaPollpeter and Allen (ed.): p. 2 ...

Honor Guard Battalion Honor Guard Battalion ( hr, Počasno-zaštitna bojna) is a military unit of Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia that performs protocol tasks for the needs of top-level state and military officials, as well as tasks related to the protection a ...

* 3rd Guard Division, located in Tongzhou, Beijing **11th Guards Regiment (showcase unit) **13th Guards Regiment (special security unit) **Armored Regiment **Artillery Regiment **Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment **Support Battalion *17th Guard Regiment *Reserve Unit *Reserve Officer Training Corps *Reserve Artillery Division, located in

Huairou Huairou District () is situated in northern Beijing about from the city center (about a 1½ to 2 hour drive). History In 1995 during the United Nation's 4th World's Women Conference in Beijing, the Civil Society community was forced to meet in t ...

, Beijing *Reserve Chemical Defense Regiment, located in Xicheng, Beijing

References

{{coord missing, China Theater commands of the People's Liberation Army Military units and formations established in 2016 2016 establishments in China Military of Beijing Military of Tianjin