Throughout the history of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, the position that effectively reigned as the Commander-in-Chief of the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

changed from time to time. During some periods, it was not exactly clear who was the supreme commander of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the China, People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five Military branch, service branches: the People's ...

. Recently, Chairman of the Central Military Commission serves as the Commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army. The officeholder is usually the

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

(CCP) as well as the

paramount leader Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often hol ...

. From 1954 to 1968, the ''ex officio'' commander-in-chief was the Chairman of the People's Republic of China (head of state), in his capacity as Chairman of the National Defence Council. However, a similar command structure inside the CCP known as the Party Central Military Commission, whose chairman was the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

'' Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The Chairman of the Central Military Commission,

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...

, who the

Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party The Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party () was the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The position was established at the 8th National Congress in 1945 and abolished at the 12th National Congress in 1982, bei ...

served as the paramount leader. Chairman of the National Defence Council included

Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary, politician, and theorist. He was Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee from 1954 to 1959, First Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1956 to 1966 and ...

, who from 1959 to 1968, was PRC's president. Even though the President was the de jure supreme commander of the military, it nonetheless was a subordinate of the CMC Chairman. From 1975 to 1982, the head of the military was the Chairman of the CCP. This gave constitutional power to

leader of the Chinese Communist Party The leader of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party is the highest-ranking official and head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Since 1982, the leader of the CCP is equivalent to the office of the General Secretary of the Ce ...

. From 1982 onwards, the Commander-in-Chief was the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. This position, however did not always give the person entitled the top command as was the case with Chairman

Hua Guofeng Hua Guofeng (; born Su Zhu; 16 February 1921 – 20 August 2008), alternatively spelled as Hua Kuo-feng, was a Chinese politician who served as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and Premier of the People's Republic of China. The desig ...

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...

was able to effectively control the military as

Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission The vice chairman of the Central Military Commission serves as the deputy to the CMC Chairman. Currently, two generals of the People's Liberation Army are serving as vice chairmen and they are He Weidong and Zhang Youxia. Party commissions ...

and the Chief of Staff of the PLA from 1978 to 1981.

References

See also