The

organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences) is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

of the armed forces of the People's Republic of China is based on grades. Each military formation, institution, billet, and officer has a grade. Personnel grades flow from the institution's grade. For example, the grade of a unit commander billet is the same as the unit's, and the officer in that billet receives that grade. Historically, grade, rather than rank, determined or indicated an officer's authority, and various professional and career factors.

Overview

Hierarchy

Grades determine the

command hierarchy A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. Military chain of command In a military context, the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders ...

from the

Central Military Commission Central Military Commission may refer to: *Central Military Commission (China), the highest national defense organization in the People's Republic of China. *Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the highest body in Vietnam ...

(CMC) to the platoon level. Since 1988, all institutions, billets, and officers in the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

(PLA) and the

People's Armed Police ) , abbreviation = PAP ("People's Armed Police") CAPF ("Chinese Armed Police Force"), formerly abbreviated''Wujing'' ( zh , s = 武警 , p = Wǔjǐng , l = Armed Police , labels = no ), or WJ as on vehicle license plates , patch ...

(PAP) have a grade. Entities command lower-graded entities, and coordinate with like-graded entities. An institution shares its grade with its leading officers, and all sub-ordinate institutions and officers have lower grades. Under the dual-command structure, an institution's military commanding officer and political officer have the same grade.

Civil–military relations Civil–military relations (Civ-Mil or CMR) describes the relationship between military organizations and civil society, military organizations and other government bureaucracies, and leaders and the military. CMR incorporates a diverse, ofte ...

within the wider state bureaucracy is also influenced by grades. The grading systems used by the armed forces and the government are parallel, making it easier for military entities to identify the civilian entities they should coordinate with.

Personnel management

An officer's authority, eligibility for billets, pay, and retirement age is determined by grade ("position grade".) Career progression includes lateral transfers between billets of the same grade, but which are not considered promotions. An officer retiring to the civil service has their grade translated to the civil grade system; their grade continues to progress and draw retirement benefits through the civil system rather than the armed forces. Historically, personnel grade — or position ( zh, s=职务等级, p=zhíwù děngjí) — was more important than ''

rank A rank is a position in a hierarchy. It can be formally recognized—for example, cardinal, chief executive officer, general, professor—or unofficial. People Formal ranks * Academic rank * Corporate title * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy ...

'' ( zh, s=军衔, p=jūnxián). Historically, time-in-grade and time-in-rank requirements and promotions were not synchronized; multiple ranks were present in each grade with all having the same authority. Rank was mainly a visual aid to roughly determine relative position when interacting with Chinese and foreign personnel. PLA etiquette preferred addressing personnel by position rather than by rank. Reforms to a more rank-centric system began in 2021. In 2023, a revised grade structure associated one rank per grade, with some ranks spanning multiple grades.

Civilians

The highest grade is CMC chairman; the

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会总书记, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì) is the leader of the Chinese Communist Part ...

, a civilian, is the CMC's chair which makes them the armed forces' representative in the

Politburo Standing Committee The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) an ...

, the country's ruling body. Civilian CMC members have personnel grades but do not have military ranks. During the drafting of the 1988 system,

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

- then CMC chairman - refused the rank of (depending on the report)

marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...

or "first class general"; first class general was the highest rank under the 1988 system and intended for the top leadership. The practice of an unranked CMC chairman was formalized in 1994 and the rank of first class general was abolished.

History

Early systems

The

Chinese Red Army The Chinese Red Army, formally the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=中國工農紅軍) or just the Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=紅軍), was the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1928 to 1937. I ...

, and later the PLA, did not use grades or ranks during the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

. Personnel were addressed by job titles. During the

Second United Front The Second United Front ( zh, t=第二次國共合作 , s=第二次国共合作 , first=t , l=Second Nationalist-Communist Cooperation, p=dì èr cì guógòng hézuò ) was the alliance between the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Co ...

period, the

Eighth Route Army The Eighth Route Army (), officially titled as the List of Army Groups of the National Revolutionary Army, 18th Group Army, was a Field army, group army nominally under the banner of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of Ch ...

and the

New Fourth Army The New Fourth Army (N4A) () was a military unit nominally under the banner of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China, established in 1937 as part of the Second United Front against Japan. However, in practice, the New ...

were officially part of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; zh, labels=no, t=國民革命軍) served as the military arm of the Kuomintang, Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT) from 1924 until 1947. From 1928, it functioned as the regular army, de facto ...

, and therefore formally used its system of ranks from 1937 to 1946; this was not official

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

policy. After the establishment of the

PRC China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the e ...

, a 21-grade system was adopted in 1952. In 1955, this changed to 20 grades, combined with 15 Soviet-based military ranks; the ranks were abolished in 1965. The number of grades changed to 27 in 1965, 23 in 1972, and 18 in 1979; the 1965 and 1972 changes were based on the State Administrative Grade System.

1988 reforms

The 1988 system had 15 grades and 10 ranks. The grades paralleled the civil grade system. The system had a many-to-many relationship between grades and ranks because grade and rank promotions were unsynchronized. From 1988 to 1994, there were three ranks allowable per grade; by 2021 there were two ranks per grade. A rank could also appear across grades; for example, major general could appear from division leader to military region deputy leader grades. The vague relationship between grades and ranks was not the only problem. Further difficulties appeared with the

Deepening National Defense and Military Reform The Deepening National Defense and Military Reform is a major restructuring of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), launched by Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party since 2012. It flattened the command structure and al ...

- particularly the operational reorganization around

theater command A theater command (战区) is a multi-service formation of China's People's Liberation Army subordinated to the Central Military Commission. Theater commands are broadly responsible for strategy, plans, tactics, and policy specific to their a ...

s - and the disruption of career paths with the conversion of many divisions and regiments into brigades. Theater command leader and theater command deputy leader replaced military region leader and military region deputy leader respectively. Brigade leader and deputy brigade leader were also added; they may have been equivalent to division leader and deputy division leader in 2016 and then to deputy division leader and regiment leader in 2020.

2021 reforms

Changing to a ''rank''-centric system was being considered by 2016 and became policy as part of the 2021 "interim" reforms to officer management and recruitment policies to improve professionalism. The reforms created a four-grade structure for technical specialists (senior professional, deputy senior professional, intermediate professional and junior professional), a separate pay level structure, and linked pay and benefits to rank rather than grade. The revised officer grade system associated each grade to one rank, although a rank could be associated with multiple grades. The implementation of the new rank-based system seems to be ongoing at a slow pace, starting by equating TC appointments with full General rank, and deputy TC positions with Lt Generals, but the change is still not quite applied to lower posts and to field and company posts.

Insignia

Grade was indicated on a uniform by the Type 07

ribbon bar A medal ribbon, service ribbon or ribbon bar is a small ribbon, mounted on a small metal bar equipped with an attaching device, which is generally issued for wear in place of a medal when it is not appropriate to wear the actual medal. Each cou ...

system, and the total number of ribbon rows. The system also marked years of service. The current system is called the Type 23 system, and includes post grades for NCOs and technical officers.

2023 grade ribbon bars

PLA rank ribbon CMC VC.svg, CMC Vice-chairman PLA rank ribbon CMC member.svg, CMC member PLA rank ribbon theatre command.svg, Theater Command leader PLA rank ribbon theatre command deputy.svg, Theater Command deputy leader PLA rank ribbon corps.svg, Corps leader PLA rank ribbon corps deputy.svg, Corps deputy leader PLA rank ribbon division.svg, Division leader PLA rank ribbon division deputy.svg, Division deputy leader PLA rank ribbon regiment.svg, Regiment leader PLA rank ribbon regiment deputy.svg, Regiment deputy leader PLA rank ribbon battalion.svg, Battalion leader PLA rank ribbon battalion deputy.svg, Battalion deputy leader PLA rank ribbon company.svg, Company leader PLA rank ribbon company deputy.svg, Deputy company leader PLA rank ribbon platoon.svg, Platoon leader PLA rank ribbon STO lv1.svg, Senior specialist technical officer PLA rank ribbon STO lv2.svg, Deputy senior specialist technical officer PLA rank ribbon STO lv3.svg, Intermediate specialist technical officer PLA rank ribbon STO lv4.svg, Junior specialist technical officer PLA rank ribbon staff MSG.svg, Staff sergeant PLA rank ribbon section.svg, Platoon leader PLA rank ribbon section deputy.svg, Deputy platoon leader PLA rank ribbon squad.svg, Squad leader PLA rank ribbon squad deputy.svg, Deputy squad leader

References

Citations

Sources

* * {{refend People's Liberation Army Military units and formations of the People's Republic of China G Grades of the armed forces of China