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

Ministry of National Defense 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 Defense HQ, Beijing
Agency overview
Formed	28 September 1954
Type	Constituent Department of the State Council (cabinet-level executive department)
Headquarters	Fuxing Road, 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 Defense
Parent agency	State Council Central Military Commission
Website	www.mod.gov.cn (in English)

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The Ministry of National Defense 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 the "National Defense Ministry" (simplified Chinese: 国防部; traditional Chinese: 國防部; pinyin: Guófángbù) for short, is the second-ranked cabinet level executive department under the State Council. It is headed by the Minister of National Defense.

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 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 very few departments under the Ministry of National Defense and actually operated by the CMC departments.

• Information Bureau
• International Communications Bureau
• Foreign Affairs Office
• Peacekeeping Office
  • Peacekeeping Affairs Centre
• Mobilisation Office

Minister[]

Although the Ministry itself does not exercise much authority, the role of the Minister of National Defense has always been viewed as one of the most important positions in the country's political system. The position of Minister has always been given to an active military officer (with the exception of Geng Biao), 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 Defense Ministers[]

No.	Portrait	Minister	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Dehuai, PengMarshal Peng Dehuai 彭德怀 (1898–1974)	28 September 1954	17 September 1959	4 years, 6 months
2		Biao, LinMarshal Lin Biao 林彪 (1907–1971)	17 September 1959	13 September 1971	12 years, 4 months
Vacant 1971–75
3		Jianying, YeMarshal Ye Jianying 叶剑英 (1897–1986)	17 January 1975	26 February 1978	3 years, 1 month
4		Xiangqian, XuMarshal Xu Xiangqian 徐向前 (1901–1990)	26 February 1978	6 March 1981	2 years, 11 months
5		Biao, GengGeng Biao 耿飚 (1909–2000)	6 March 1981	19 November 1983	2 years, 3 months
6		Aiping, ZhangGeneral Zhang Aiping 张爱萍 (1910–2003)	19 November 1982	12 April 1988	5 years, 4 months
7		Jiwei, QinGeneral Qin Jiwei 秦基伟 (1914–1997)	12 April 1988	29 March 1993	4 years, 11 months
8		Haotian, ChiGeneral Chi Haotian 迟浩田 (born 1929)	29 March 1993	17 March 2003	9 years, 11 months
9		Gangchuan, CaoGeneral Cao Gangchuan 曹刚川 (born 1935)	17 March 2003	17 March 2008	5 years
10		Guanglie, LiangGeneral Liang Guanglie 梁光烈 (born 1940)	17 March 2008	16 March 2013	5 years
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	3 years, 168 days

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 Defense
  • National Defense Mobilization Commission
• Central Military Commission (China)
  • National Defense Mobilization Department
• Defense diplomacy

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