What are the functions of the armed forces departments at the county level and below in China?

Mondo Military Updated on 2024-01-31

Today, I would like to share with you some basic information about China's armed forces departments at the county level and below, as well as the relevant organizational structure. This information will help us better understand how this vast system works so that we can respond to possible emergencies and improve the security resilience of countries and peoples.

China's armed forces departments at the county level and below have an important mission. Each county-level administrative region is required to establish a such armed forces department, which is responsible for the local militia construction, management and training, mobilization in times of potential war, recruitment, coordination of military economic and social development, and the resettlement of retired soldiers. This role is set up to maintain the security and stability of the country and to ensure that the country can effectively resist any form of threat.

Let me now give you a detailed overview of the organizational structure of the Ministry of Armed Forces and the specific tasks they are responsible for.

In China, from megacities to remote rural areas, a large number of township streets and some enterprises and institutions will have a people's armed forces department, but they are not active duty institutions, and in fact there are no active duty officers. For such a people's armed forces, there are two main categories. First of all, the civil armed forces department of some township and sub-district sub-districts is the military department of the township party committee or sub-district party working committee, and at the same time, it is also the military service department of the township ** or sub-district office.

The Ministry of Civil Armed Forces under the leadership of the township party committee or the neighborhood party working committee may be involved in a variety of business areas, such as recruitment propaganda, the construction and training of militia reservists, the management and maintenance of equipment, and the organization of escort missions during major holidays. On the other hand, the township** or sub-district office will assist in providing services such as military service registration, the implementation of preferential care policies, and condolences to the families of retired soldiers.

Of course, this type of grassroots people's armed forces department is not an active organization, but an administrative organ subordinate to the local system. In other words, the members of the township party committee or the neighborhood party working committee are generally public officials at the level of deputy sections, and they are neither active military personnel nor commanders of corresponding positions in the army. Similarly, the posts of deputy ministers and other positions also use local establishments, and there are no active military personnel.

Theoretically speaking, the work of carrying out the people's armed forces at the grassroots level"Minister, Deputy Minister"and other figures can be called "special military cadres (or full-time people's armed forces cadres)", although the military uniforms they wear do not have seniority badges, and the epaulettes are very different from those of active officers and soldiers. It is worth our attention that by observing the current situation, it can be seen that a small number of township party secretaries (secretaries of neighborhood party working committees) will also serve as political instructors, which is also one of the concrete manifestations of the principle of "party management of the armed forces".

In addition to township streets, some enterprises and institutions (such as public institutions of higher learning and state-owned enterprises) also have grass-roots people's armed forces departments (armed forces), but they are never included in the scope of active service, and the staff in these units are generally public cadres or regular employees of state-owned enterprises. In contrast, due to the slight differences in the division of functions, the civil armed forces departments of institutions of higher learning tend to be responsible for a wider range of work programs, such as military training for students and national defense education.

But in this case, one of the most distinctive and high-profile examples of Chinese state-owned enterprises cannot be overlooked. This central enterprise is located in one of the three northeastern provinces with a special geographical location - Heilongjiang "Beidahuang Agricultural Reclamation Group", its predecessor is the "Heilongjiang Provincial Agricultural Reclamation Bureau", which has been cancelled. Since 2020, the "Heilongjiang Provincial Bureau of Agricultural Reclamation" has been reorganized into a central enterprise directly managed by the Ministry of Finance and assuming the role of a funder. Unfortunately, since then, the nine Reclamation Administrations that were previously part of the General Bureau of Reclamation have been converted into eight branches and the Harbin Company. Despite the changes in the internal structure, the original nine active People's Armed Forces Departments are still retained to this day, such as the "People's Armed Forces Department of the Harbin Administration of Agricultural Reclamation and the People's Armed Forces Department of the Qiqihar Administration of Agricultural Reclamation".

At present, these armed forces departments are supervised and managed by the Military Department of the General Administration of Agricultural Reclamation, and exercise all the powers of the county-level people's armed forces departments, such as carrying out local conscription tasks. It is worth noting that the directors and political commissars of these nine armed forces departments are all at the rank of colonel at the regimental level, and they generally serve as members of the party committees of the branches.

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