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

Not to be confused with Ministry of National Defense (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
Agency overview
Formed	28 September 1954 (1954-09-28)
Type	Constituent Department of the State Council (cabinet-level executive department)
Jurisdiction	Government of China
Headquarters	Fuxing Road, Beijing
Agency executive	General Wei Fenghe, Minister of National Defense
Parent agency	State Council Central Military Commission
Website	mod.gov.cn (in English)

The Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China (Chinese: 中华人民共和国国防部; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Guófángbù), or the "National Defense Ministry" (Chinese: 国防部; 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

According to the Constitution of China, the Minister of National Defense is nominated by the Chinese Premier and confirmed by the National People's Congress or its Standing Committee.

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 Chinese 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. In 2018, the incumbent Wei Fenghe became the first Minister to have not come from the PLA Ground Forces.

List of Defense Ministers

No.	Portrait	Minister	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch
1		Dehuai, PengMarshal Peng Dehuai 彭德怀 (1898–1974)	28 September 1954	17 September 1959	4 years, 6 months	PLA Ground Force
2		Biao, LinMarshal Lin Biao 林彪 (1907–1971)	17 September 1959	13 September 1971	12 years, 4 months	PLA Ground Force
Vacant 1971–75
3		Jianying, YeMarshal Ye Jianying 叶剑英 (1897–1986)	17 January 1975	26 February 1978	3 years, 1 month	PLA Ground Force
4		Xiangqian, XuMarshal Xu Xiangqian 徐向前 (1901–1990)	26 February 1978	6 March 1981	2 years, 11 months	PLA Ground Force
5		Biao, GengGeng Biao 耿飚 (1909–2000)	6 March 1981	19 November 1983	2 years, 3 months	Formerly PLA Ground Force
6		Aiping, ZhangGeneral Zhang Aiping 张爱萍 (1910–2003)	19 November 1982	12 April 1988	5 years, 4 months	PLA Ground Force
7		Jiwei, QinGeneral Qin Jiwei 秦基伟 (1914–1997)	12 April 1988	29 March 1993	4 years, 11 months	PLA Ground Force
8		Haotian, ChiGeneral Chi Haotian 迟浩田 (born 1929)	29 March 1993	17 March 2003	9 years, 11 months	PLA Ground Force
9		Gangchuan, CaoGeneral Cao Gangchuan 曹刚川 (born 1935)	17 March 2003	17 March 2008	5 years	PLA Ground Force
10		Guanglie, LiangGeneral Liang Guanglie 梁光烈 (born 1940)	17 March 2008	16 March 2013	5 years	PLA Ground Force
11		Wanquan, ChangGeneral Chang Wanquan 常万全 (born 1949)	16 March 2013	19 March 2018	5 years	PLA Ground Force
12		Fenghe, WeiGeneral Wei Fenghe 魏凤和 (born 1954)	19 March 2018	Incumbent	4 years, 0 days	PLA Rocket Force

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

• "Ministry of National Defence". SinoDefence.com. Archived from the original on 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2007-11-21.

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