The Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China (), or the "National Defense Ministry" () 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 The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2,9 ...

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 An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

, equipment,

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

, 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 Constitution of the People's Republic of China is the supreme law of the People's Republic of China. It was adopted by the 5th National People's Congress on December 4, 1982, with further revisions about every five years. It is the fou ...

, the Minister of National Defense is nominated by the

Chinese Premier The premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the premier of China and sometimes also referred to as the prime minister, is the head of government of China and leader of the State Council. The premier is ...

and confirmed by the

or its

Standing Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

.Article 62 (5) of the

Constitution of the People's Republic of China The Constitution of the People's Republic of China is the supreme law of the People's Republic of China. It was adopted by the 5th National People's Congress on December 4, 1982, with further revisions about every five years. It is the fou ...

. 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 A state councillor () is a high-ranking position within the State Council, the executive organ of the Chinese government (comparable to a cabinet). It ranks immediately below the Vice-Premiers and above the ministers of various departments. ...

and a member of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee and member (sometimes a

Vice Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

) 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

, - style="text-align:center;" , colspan=7, ''Vacant''
1971–75 , -

References

Citations

Sources

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 The ''People's Liberation Army Daily'' (), or ''PLA Daily'' for short, is the official newspaper of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). Institutionally, the ''PLA Daily'' is the mouthpiece of and speaks for the Central Military Commission ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of National Defense Of The People's Republic Of China Military of the People's Republic of China Defense China Ministries established in 1954