China reshuffles military headquarters in major revamp of PLA

In a major military reform, Chinese President Xi Jinping today reorganised four army headquarters by replacing them with 15 new agencies under the Central Military Commission (CMC) headed by him, tightening his control over the world's largest force.
The new structure includes new commissions -- discipline inspection, politics and law and science and technology -- as well as the general office, state-run Xinhua news agency said.
The reform includes formation of five more divisions, administration, auditing, international cooperation, reform, organisational structure and strategic planning.
There are six new departments, joint staff, political work, logistical support, equipment development, training, and national defence. Currently China has four army headquarters -- staff, politics, logistics and armaments.

Xi, who is also the chief of the ruling Communist Party of China and chairman of the CMC, met the new chiefs of each agency today when he described the reshuffle as "a breakthrough" and called the new leadership system "a crucial step" toward a stronger military, the report said.
This is part of major reforms initiated by Xi to revamp the 2.3 million-strong and the world largest military, the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

64-year-old Xi is widely regarded as the most powerful Chinese leaders in recent decades after Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping as he consolidated his power base heading the troika of President, CPC General Secretary and Chief of Military.

His reforms include retrenchment of three lakh troops to make the force lean and mean. The reforms included renaming of the strategic missile force as PLA Rocket Force and Strategic Support Force to provide proper electronic and cyber intelligence backup for precision missiles strikes during war and elevated their status as independent force along with army, navy and airforce.
As part of the reforms, the Chinese military has also for the first time integrated area commands looking after India and Pakistan. China has seven military area commands in Jinan, Beijing, Nanjing, Chengdu, Shenyang, Lanzhou and Guangzhou.
Chengdulooked after security of India's Eastern sector in the Tibet region including Arunachal Pradesh while Lanzhou looked after the partly the western sector, including Kashmir region and Pakistan.

As per the new strategic zone plan, bothChengdu and Lanzhou gets integrated into strategic command region, making it perhaps the biggest areas for Chinese military. Lanzhou which looks after the border Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Afghanistan has been active in recent years battling the two way crossings of Uyghur Islamic militants from Xinjiang.
The unified joint command system which Xi initiated will end the army dominated set up with more role for airforce and navy which are on a massive modernisation under the USD 145 annual defence budget.
"More than 50 senior officers at the rank of major general

or higher - including Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong, the former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission - have been convicted or placed under disciplinary probes since Xi took office in 2012," it said.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) also set to retrench three lakh troops as part of structural reforms as part of China's efforts to develop capabilities and produce a leaner, modern fighting unit.
The reform has resulted in the biggest overhaul of the PLA for several decades.
It's higher governing bodies up to the level of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the PLA were reshuffled, the regional command was reorganised and new units were established to prepare for wars in cyberspace and even space itself, the report said.

The blue-print prepared by CMC pledged to establish a leaner and more efficient chain of command, to reduce the number of non-combatant personnel and departments, and to build the PLA into a force capable of winning modern wars, which are characterised by information warfare and joint operations, it said, adding that the goals should be achieved before 2020.
"The last day of 2015 saw the establishment of PLA Army Headquarters, the PLA Rocket Force and the PLA Strategic Support Force, moves that formally started the historic shakeup," it said.
"The founding of the PLA Army Headquarters ended 88 years without a leading body for the Army, and also signalled the end of an era in which the unit dominated the other services and had the final word in military affairs," it said.

Historically, the Army did not have its own headquarters because its units were under the direct control of the CMC, while the seven former regional commands oversaw the operations of Army units under their jurisdictions.
The regional commands were also reshuffled to become the Eastern, Southern, Western, Northern and Central theatre commands replacing seven regional commands named after the cities in which their headquarters were located.
The western command became an integrated command for India borders.
Du Wenlong, a senior researcher at the PLA Academy of Military Science said, the rebranding of the Second Artillery Corps as PLA Rocket Force indicates that China is transparent and confident about displaying its true military capabilities to the world, and that the Rocket Force is expected to play a larger role in the future.

The tasks assigned to the Strategic Support Force have yet to be unveiled, but Yin Zhuo, director of the PLA Navy's Expert Consultation Committee, said the responsibilities of the new branch will include target reconnaissance and tracking, global positioning operations, space-asset management and defending against hostile activities in the cyberspace and electromagnetic fields.