Central Theater Command

Last updated
Central Theater Command
中部战区
Map of Central Theatre of PLA.svg
Founded1 February 2016;8 years ago (2016-02-01)
CountryFlag of the People's Republic of China.svg  People's Republic of China
AllegianceFlag of the Chinese Communist Party.svg Chinese Communist Party
Type Theater Command
Role Command and control
Size300,000
Part of Central Military Commission
People's Liberation Army Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  People's Liberation Army
Headquarters Beijing
Motto(s)听党指挥、能打胜仗、作风优良
Website Official website
Commanders
Commander General Huang Ming
Political Commissar General Xu Deqing
Chief of Staff General Jia Jiancheng
Insignia
Sleeve insignia People's Liberation Army Central Theater Command sleeve badge.svg
Central Theater Command
Simplified Chinese 中部战区
Traditional Chinese 中部戰區
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngbù Zhànqū

The Central Theater Command is one of the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army of China, [1] and was founded on 1 February 2016. [2] Its predecessors were the Beijing Military Region and Jinan Military Region. [3]

Contents

The International Institute for Strategic Studies attributes to the command of 300,000 personnel, consisting of three group armies 81st Group Army, 82nd Group Army, 83rd Group Army (Formerly 27th Group 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. [4] The command is also augmented by the PLA Beijing Garrison, which consists of the 1st Guard and the 3rd Guard Divisions, and the Beijing Garrison Honor Guard Battalion and Color Guard Company, both of them are charged with public duties, and is also home to the PLA Navy (PLAN) North Sea Fleet 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.[ citation needed ]

Area of responsibility

The Central Theater Command's area of responsibility (AOR) consists of the previous Beijing Military Region, including the capital Beijing and the neighboring provinces and directly governed municipalities of Tianjin, Hebei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Hubei. [5]

The command's primary responsibility is the defense of the nation's capital, Beijing, and it serves as the national strategic military reserve. [6]

Organizational Structure

PLA Ground Forces

Regiments/Units

81st Group Army

82nd Group Army

83rd Group Army

PLA Beijing Garrison

PLA Air Forces

List of leaders

Commanders

English nameChinese nameTook officeLeft officeNotes
Han Weiguo 韩卫国February 2016August 2017
Yi Xiaoguang 乙晓光August 2017August 2021
Lin Xiangyang 林向阳August 2021January 2022
Wu Yanan 吴亚男January 2022January 2023
Huang Ming 黄铭January 2023Incumbent

Political commissars

English nameChinese nameTook officeLeft officeNotes
Yin Fanglong 殷方龙February 2016December 2018
Zhu Shengling 朱生岭March 2019January 2022
Xu Deqing 徐德清January 2022Incumbent

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Liberation Army Ground Force</span> Land service branch of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army

The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF), or the PLA Army, is the land-based service branch of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and also its largest and oldest branch. The PLAGF can trace its lineage from 1927 as the Chinese Red Army; however, it was not officially established until 1948.

Group armies or army groups or combined corps, are corps-level military formations of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force of China. Despite what the name suggests, current Group Armies are not army-level formations, but corps-sized formations commanding 12 to 14 brigades, roughly equivalent to United States Army Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beijing Military Region</span> Former military region of China

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 Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The Region is mainly responsible for defending the People's Republic of China from Mongolia and Russia, and also protects the capital of China, and had the largest number of military personnel of any of the seven regions active from 1985 to 2017. The Region has now been disbanded and superseded by the Central Theater Command and Northern Theater Command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">82nd Group Army</span> Chinese military unit

The 82nd Group Army, Unit 31677, 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 thirteen total group armies of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground forces in the People's Republic of China, and one of three assigned to the nation's Central Theater Command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">80th Motorized Infantry Brigade (People's Republic of China)</span> Brigade of the Peoples Liberation Army

The 80th Medium Combined Arms Brigade, formerly the 80th Division, is a military formation of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force. It's now a maneuver part of the PLA 82nd Group Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">112th Mechanized Infantry Division (People's Republic of China)</span> Military unit

The 112th Mechanized Infantry Division is a military formation of the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China. The 112th Division was created in November 1948 under the Regulation of the Redesignations of All Organizations and Units of the Army, issued by Central Military Commission on November 1, 1948, basing on the 1st Division, 1st Column of the Northeastern Field Army. Its history can be traced to 5th Corps of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army taking part in the Pingjiang uprising in 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">113th Mechanized Infantry Division (People's Republic of China)</span> Military unit

The 113th Mechanized Infantry Division, now the 113th Medium Combined Arms Brigade, is a military formation of the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">78th Group Army</span> Chinese corps-level military unit

The 78th Group Army, Unit 31669, formerly the 16th Group Army, is a military formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Forces (PLAGF). The 78th Group Army is one of thirteen total group armies of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground forces in the People's Republic of China, and one of three assigned to the nation's Northern Theater Command.

The 60th Medium Combined Arms Brigade is one of the six combined arms brigades of the 83rd Group Army under the Central Theater Command. The 60th was converted from a division to a brigade as part of the PLA modernization efforts of the late 1990s.

The 199th Medium Combined Arms Brigade, formerly the 199th Motorized Infantry Brigade, is one of the six combined arms brigades of the 80th Group Army in the Northern Theater Command Ground Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">81st Group Army</span> Chinese military unit

The 81st Group Army, Unit 31675, 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 thirteen total group armies of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground forces in the People's Republic of China, and one of three assigned to the nation's Central Theater Command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">83rd Group Army</span> Military unit

The 83rd Group Army, Unit 31679, 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 thirteen total group armies of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground forces in the People's Republic of China, and one of three assigned to the nation's Central Theater Command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">72nd Group Army</span> Chinese military unit

The 72nd Group Army, Unit 31657, formerly the 1st Group Army, is a military formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Forces (PLAGF). The 71st Group Army is one of thirteen total group armies of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground forces in the People's Republic of China, and one of three assigned to the nation's Eastern Theater Command. Headquartered in Huzhou, Zhejiang, the unit's primary mission is likely preparation for conflict in or about the Taiwan Strait.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Theater Command</span> Chinese military command region

The Southern Theater Command is one of the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army, founded on 1 February 2016. Its predecessor was the Guangzhou Military Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Theater Command</span> Military command region of China

The Eastern Theater Command is one of the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), founded 1 February 2016. It replaced the Nanjing Military Region. The command is headquartered in Nanjing.

The 1st Amphibious Combined Arms Brigade, formerly the 1st Amphibious Mechanized Infantry Division, is a military formation of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force of the People's Republic of China.

The 7th Division (1st Formation) of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was created in February 1949 under the Regulation of the Redesignations of All Organizations and Units of the Army, issued by Central Military Commission on November 1, 1948, basing on the 2nd Independent Brigade, 3rd Column of the PLA Northwestern Field Army. Its history can be traced to the 358th Brigade(2nd Formation), 120th Division of Eighth Route Army, formed in April 1939.

The 189th Division was created in January 1949 under the Regulation of the Redesignations of All Organizations and Units of the Army, issued by Central Military Commission on November 1, 1948,basing on the 9th Brigade, 3rd Column of the Jinchaji Military Region. Its history can be traced to the 5th Military Sub-district of Jinchaji Military Region, formed in March 1940.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Liberation Army Air Force Airborne Corps</span> Airborne corps under direct command of the Peoples Liberation Army Air Force

The People's Liberation Army Air Force Airborne Corps is an airborne corps under direct command of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). It was reorganized and renamed from the 15th Airborne Corps in May 2017 and now comprises six airborne brigades and a special operations brigade. The PLAAF Airborne Corps is China's primary strategic airborne unit and part of the newly formed rapid reaction units (RRUs) of the Chinese military which is primarily designated for airborne and special operation missions. Its role is similar to that of the U.S. Army's XVIII Airborne Corps, the British Army's Parachute Regiment and the Russian Airborne Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Theater Command Ground Force</span> Military unit

The Central Theater Command Ground Force is the ground force under the Central Theater Command. Its headquarters is in Shijiazhuang, Hebei. The current commander is Fan Chengcai and the current political commissar is Zhou Wanzhu.

References

  1. Zhen, Liu (January 4, 2018). "Xi Jinping calls for battle readiness as troops stage massive winter drills across China". South China Morning Post . Retrieved January 4, 2018. Dressed in a winter camouflage uniform and flanked by the other members of the supreme Central Military Commission, Xi issued the call from a military base in the Central Theatre Command, one of the country's five military zones, as troops in 4,000 sites across the country took part in simultaneous drills in the armed forces' annual new year exercises on Wednesday.
  2. "President Xi announces establishment of five PLA theater commands". Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2019. A grand inauguration ceremony was held to mark the founding of the five theater commands of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Beijing on Feb. 1, 2016....and Han Weiguo and Yin Fanglong, commander and political commissar of the Central Theater Command....
  3. "原七大军区调整为五大战区 北京湖北等隶属中部战区". hb.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  4. International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2006
  5. Teo, Cheng Wee (3 Feb 2016). "Military rezoning shows China's focus is on winning wars". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 14 June 2019. [see map graphic for list of provinces]
  6. Army Techniques Publication (ATP) 7-100.3 Chinese Tactics. Washington, D.C.: Headquarters, Department of the Army (United States). 2021. p. 36. ISBN   9798457607118.