Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China

Ministry of National Defence
of the People's Republic of China

中华人民共和国国防部 Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Guófángbù
Emblem of the People's Republic of China
Ministry of National Defence HQ: August First Building, Beijing
Agency overview
Formed	September 1954
Jurisdiction	People's Republic of China
Headquarters	Beijing 39°54′28″N 116°19′15″E / 39.90778°N 116.32083°E / 39.90778; 116.32083Coordinates: 39°54′28″N 116°19′15″E / 39.90778°N 116.32083°E / 39.90778; 116.32083
Agency executive	General Wei Fenghe, Minister of National Defence
Parent agency	State Council Central Military Commission
Website	www.mod.gov.cn (in English)

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The Ministry of National Defence of the People's Republic of China (simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国国防部; traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國國防部; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Guófángbù) or for short the "National Defence Ministry" (simplified Chinese: 国防部; traditional Chinese: 國防部; pinyin: Guófángbù) is a ministry under the State Council. It is headed by the Minister of National Defence. The MND was set up according to a decision adopted by the 1st Session of the 1st National People's Congress in 1954. In contrast to practice in other nations, the MND does not exercise command authority over the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which is instead subordinate to the Central Military Commission (CMC). Instead, the MND itself only serves as liaison body representing the CMC and PLA when dealing with foreign militaries in military exchange and cooperation.

Its official responsibilities had been to exercise unified administration over the development of the armed forces of the country such as recruitment, organization, equipment, training, scientific military research of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the ranking and remuneration of the officers and servicemen. However, in reality these responsibilities are carried out by the CMC's 15 departments.

Structure

There are a number of departments under the Ministry of National Defence:

• General Office
• Foreign Affairs Office
• Peacekeeping Office
• Conscription Office

The Ministry of National Defence General Office is in fact the same body as the General Staff Department General Office. Other offices are also staffed by personnel from the General Staff Department.

Minister

Although the Ministry itself does not exercise much authority, the role of the Minister of National Defence has always been viewed as one of the most important positions in the country’s political system. The Minister is always an active military officer, a State Councilor and a member of the Communist Party's Central Committee and member (sometimes a Vice Chairman) of the Central Military Commission, enabling him to take part in the decision making in the PLA, the Government and the Party.

List of Defence Ministers

№		Minister	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Dehuai, PengMarshal Peng Dehuai 彭德怀 (1898–1974)	September 1954	April 1959	4 years, 7 months
2		Biao, LinMarshal Lin Biao 林彪 (1907–1971)	April 1959	September 1971	12 years, 5 months
Vacant 1971–75
3		Jianying, YeMarshal Ye Jianying 叶剑英 (1897–1986)	January 1975	March 1978	3 years, 2 months
4		Xiangqian, XuMarshal Xu Xiangqian 徐向前 (1901–1990)	March 1978	March 1981	3 years
5		Biao, GengGeng Biao 耿飚 (1909–2000)	March 1981	June 1983	2 years, 3 months
6		Aiping, ZhangGeneral Zhang Aiping 张爱萍 (1910–2003)	June 1983	March 1988	4 years, 9 months
7		Jiwei, QinGeneral Qin Jiwei 秦基伟 (1914–1997)	March 1988	March 1993	5 years
8		Haotian, ChiGeneral Chi Haotian 迟浩田 (born 1929)	March 1993	March 2003	10 years
9		Gangchuan, CaoGeneral Cao Gangchuan 曹刚川 (born 1935)	March 2003	17 March 2008	5 years
10		Guanglie, LiangGeneral Liang Guanglie 梁光烈 (born 1940)	17 March 2008	16 March 2013	4 years, 11 months
11		Wanquan, ChangGeneral Chang Wanquan 常万全 (born 1949)	16 March 2013	19 March 2018	5 years
12		Fenghe, WeiGeneral Wei Fenghe 魏凤和 (born 1954)	19 March 2018	Incumbent	7002213000000000000♠213 days

References

External links

• Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China (Chinese)
• Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China (English)
• 中国军网
• China Military Online sponsored by the PLA Daily

See also

• State Council of the People's Republic of China
  • Ministries of the People's Republic of China
    • Ministry of Veterans Affairs
  • State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence
  • National Defense Mobilization Commission
• Central Military Commission (China)
  • National Defense Mobilization Department
• Defense diplomacy