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Grades of the armed forces of China

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The organization of the armed forces of the People's Republic of China is based on grades. Each 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[edit]

Hierarchy[edit]

Grades determine the command hierarchy from the Central Military Commission (CMC) to the platoon level. Since 1988, all institutions, billets, and officers in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Armed Police (PAP) have a grade.[1] Entities command lower-graded entities, and coordinate with like-graded entities.[2] 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.[3]

Civil–military relations 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.[2]

Personnel management[edit]

An officer's authority, eligibility for billets, pay, and retirement age is determined by grade.[4][2] Career progression includes lateral transfers between billets of the same grade, but which are not considered promotions.[5][6] An officer retiring to the civil service has their grade translated to the civil grade system;[2] their grade continues to progress and draw retirement benefits through the civil system rather than the armed forces.[3]

Historically, personnel grade — or position (Chinese: 职务等级; pinyin: zhiwu dengji[7]) — was more important than rank (Chinese: 军衔; pinyin: junxian[7]).[2] Historically, time-in-grade and time-in-rank requirements[8] and promotions were not synchronized;[5] multiple ranks were present in each grade[9] with all having the same authority.[3] Rank was mainly a visual aid to roughly determine relative position when interacting with Chinese and foreign personnel.[2] PLA etiquette preferred addressing personnel by position rather than by rank.[10] Reforms to a more rank-centric system began in 2021.[7] In 2023, a revised grade structure associated one rank per grade, with some ranks spanning multiple grades.[11]

Civilians[edit]

The highest grade is CMC chairman;[11] the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, a civilian, is the CMC's chair which makes them the armed forces' representative in the Politburo Standing Committee, the country's ruling body.[12] Civilian CMC members have personnel grades but do not have military ranks.[1] During the drafting of the 1988 system, one proposal was to grant the CMC chairman the rank of marshal; Deng Xiaoping − then CMC chairman − rejected the proposal. The practice of an unranked CMC chairman was formalized in 1994.[13]

History[edit]

Early systems[edit]

The Chinese Red Army, and the later PLA, did not use grades or during the Chinese Civil War. Personnel were addressed by job titles.[14] Ranks — based on the Kuomintang system — were used by parts of the army from 1937 to 1946; this was not official Chinese Communist Party policy. A 21-grade system was adopted in 1952. In 1955, this changed to 20 grades with 15 Soviet-based 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.[15]

1988 reforms[edit]

The 1988 system had 15 grades and 10 ranks. The grades paralleled the civil grade system.[2] 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 per grade; by 2021 there were two ranks per grade.[1] A rank could also appear across grades; for example, major general could appear from division leader to military region deputy leader.[16]

The vague relationship between grades and ranks was not the only problem. Further difficulties appeared with the 2015 military reforms - particularly the operational reorganization around theater commands - and the disruption of career paths with the conversion of many divisions and regiments into brigades.[17]

Theater command leader and theater command deputy leader replaced military region leader and military region deputy leader respectively.[7] Brigade leader and deputy brigade leader were also added; they may have been equivalent to division leader and deputy division leader in 2016[18] and then deputy division leader and regiment leader in 2020.[7]

1988 officer grades and ranks[19]
Grade Ranks
Most common Less common
CMC chairman
CMC Vice-chairman 		None
General
CMC member General
Military region leader General/Admiral Lieutenant general/Vice admiral
Military region deputy leader Lieutenant general/Vice admiral Major general/Rear admiral
Corps leader Major general/Rear admiral Lieutenant general/Vice admiral
Corps deputy leader Major general/Rear admiral Senior colonel/Senior captain
Division leader Senior colonel/Senior captain Major general/Rear admiral
Division deputy leader Colonel/Captain Senior colonel/Senior captain
Regiment leader Colonel/Captain Lieutenant colonel/Commander
Regiment deputy leader Lieutenant colonel/Commander Major/Lieutenant commander
Battalion leader Major/Lieutenant commander Lieutenant colonel/Lieutenant commander
Battalion deputy leader Captain/Lieutenant Major/Lieutenant commander
Company leader Captain/Lieutenant First lieutenant/Lieutenant (junior grade)
Company deputy leader First lieutenant/Lieutenant (junior grade) Captain/Lieutenant
Platoon leader Second lieutenant/Ensign First lieutenant/Ensign

2021 reforms[edit]

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),[17] a separate pay grade (Chinese: 待遇级别) structure, and linked retirements benefits to rank rather than grade.[20]

The revised officer grade system associated each grade to one rank, although a rank could be associated with multiple grades.[11]

Post-2021 officer grades and ranks[11][additional citation(s) needed]
Level[clarification needed] Grade Rank Equivalent civil service grade Notes
1 CMC chairman None National leader
2 CMC deputy chairman General Deputy national leader
3 CMC member Quasi-national deputy leader
4 Theater command leader Provincial/ministry leader
5 Theater command deputy leader Lieutenant general
6 Corps leader Major general
7 Corps Deputy Leader Provincial/ministry deputy leader
Division leader Senior colonel Treated as corps deputy leader
8 Division officer Department leader
9 Division deputy leader Department deputy leader
8–11 Regiment leader Colonel County leader
10–13 Regiment deputy leader Lieutenant colonel County deputy leader
12–16 Battalion leader Major Township leader
Battalion deputy leader Township deputy leader
14–17 Company leader Captain
15–18 Company deputy leader First lieutenant
17–19 Platoon leader Second lieutenant

Insignia[edit]

Grade is indicated on a uniform by a ribbon bar and the number of rows of ribbons.[21]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Pollpeter & Allen 2012, p. 18.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Pollpeter & Allen 2012, p. 16.
  3. ^ a b c Kaufman & Mackenzie 2009, p. 74.
  4. ^ Kaufman & Mackenzie 2009, pp. 73–74.
  5. ^ a b Pollpeter & Allen 2012, p. 17.
  6. ^ Kaufman & Mackenzie 2009, p. 73.
  7. ^ a b c d e Wuthnow, Joel; Saunders, Phillip C. (16 March 2021). "A New Step Forward in PLA Professionalization". Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  8. ^ Allen, Kenneth (22 July 2010). "Assessing the PLA's Promotion Ladder to CMC Member Based on Grades vs. Ranks – Part 1". Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 2024-05-11. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  9. ^ Pollpeter & Allen 2012, p. 19.
  10. ^ Kaufman & Mackenzie 2009, p. 77.
  11. ^ a b c d "中国公务员的级别和职级" [Chinese civil service grades and ranks]. Dalate Banner Party Building Network (in Chinese). 9 March 2023. Archived from the original on 2024-06-14. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  12. ^ Pollpeter & Allen 2012, p. 87.
  13. ^ Kan, Ke (5 May 2016). Le, Yi; Qin, Jing (eds.). "形成中央军委主席不授予军衔的惯例" [It has become a practice that the Chairman of the Central Military Commission does not confer military ranks]. People's Daily (in Chinese). 中国共产党新闻网. Guang'an Daily. Archived from the original on 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  14. ^ Kaufman & Mackenzie 2009, p. 46.
  15. ^ Allen, Kenneth (30 January 2017). "China Announces Reform of Military Ranks". Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 13 October 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  16. ^ Pollpeter & Allen 2012, p. 21.
  17. ^ a b Char, James (31 March 2021). "What a Change in China's Officer Rank and Grade System Tells Us About PLA Reform". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 2024-05-11. Retrieved 2024-05-11.
  18. ^ Allen, Kenneth; Blasko, Dennis J.; Corbett, John F. (4 February 2016). "The PLA's New Organizational Structure: What is Known, Unknown and Speculation (Part 1)". Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 2020-11-13. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
  19. ^ Pollpeter & Allen 2012, p. 18-19.
  20. ^ Kejin, Zhang (9 January 2021). Liu, Shangjing (ed.). "中央军委政治工作部领导就学习贯彻《现役军官管理暂行条例》及相关配套法规答记者问" [Leaders of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission answered questions from reporters on studying and implementing the "Interim Regulations on the Management of Active-Duty Officers" and related supporting regulations]. Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2024-04-02. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  21. ^ Pollpeter & Allen 2012, p. 20.

Sources[edit]

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