Joint Staff Department (China)

The Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission (JSDCMC) (Chinese: 中央军委联合参谋部) is the command organ and the headquarters for the People's Liberation Army (PLA), superseding the former PLA General Staff Department (GSD).^[1] It was established on 11 January 2016, under the military reforms of Central Military Commission (CMC) chairman Xi Jinping.^[2]

Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission

中央军委联合参谋部
Official patch of the Joint Staff Department
Agency overview
Formed	11 January 2016; 8 years ago (2016-01-11)
Preceding agency	People's Liberation Army General Staff Department
Type	Functional department of the Central Military Commission
Jurisdiction	People's Liberation Army
Headquarters	"August 1st Building", Beijing
Agency executives	General Liu Zhenli, Chief of Staff General Xu Qiling, Deputy Chief of Staff
Parent department	Central Military Commission
Website	chinamil.com.cn

Headquartered in Beijing, the Joint Staff Department (JSD) is under the absolute leadership of the CMC and likely serves as an institutional link between members of the CMC and post-2016 PLA theater commands. According to the JSD, its main duties include carrying out combat support planning and combat command support, studying and formulating military strategy and requirements, organizing combat capability assessment, arranging and instructing joint training; and combat readiness and routine war preparedness work.^[3]

Organization

Prior to the 2016 transition, the General Staff Department comprised the following bureaus:

• Combat Operations Command
• Combat Communications
• Intelligence
• Mobilization
• Electronic Warfare
• Foreign Relations
• Management

Within the present Joint Staff Department are the following bureaus:

• General Office (办公厅)
• Guard Bureau (警卫局)
• Political Work Bureau (政治工作局)
• Operations Bureau (作战局)
• Strategic Campaign Training Bureau (战略战役训练局)
• Intelligence Bureau (情报局)
• Navigation Bureau (导航局)
• Information and Communications Bureau (信息通信局)
• Battlefield Environmental Protection Bureau (战场环境保障局)
• Military Requirements Bureau (军事需求局)

The Intelligence Bureau of the Joint Staff Department, formerly the 2nd Bureau or '2PLA' under the GSD, is the most well-known bureau subordinate to the JSD for its role in espionage.^{[citation needed]}

List of chiefs

Since 2022, the Chief of Joint Staff Department is General Liu Zhenli. The current deputy chiefs are Lieutenant General Ma Yiming, and Major General Shao Yuanming. Prior to the 2016 rename, department heads were referred to as Chief of the General Staff Department.^{[citation needed]}

No.	Portrait	Chief	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch
1		Yu, SuSenior General Su Yu 粟裕 (1907–1984)	October 1954	October 1958	4 years	PLA Ground Force
2		Kecheng, HuangSenior General Huang Kecheng 黄克诚 (1902–1986)	October 1958	September 1959	11 months	PLA Ground Force
3		Ruiqing, LuoSenior General Luo Ruiqing 罗瑞卿 (1906–1978)	September 1959	December 1965	6 years, 3 months	PLA Ground Force
4		Chengwu, YangGeneral Yang Chengwu 杨成武 (1914–2004)	December 1965	March 1968	2 years, 3 months	PLA Ground Force
5		Yongsheng, HuangGeneral Huang Yongsheng 黄永胜 (1910–2004)	March 1968	September 1971	3 years, 6 months	PLA Ground Force
Vacant 1971–75
6		Xiaoping, DengDeng Xiaoping 邓小平 (1904–1997)	January 1975	March 1980	5 years, 2 months	PLA Ground Force
7		Dezhi, YangGeneral Yang Dezhi 杨得志 (1911–1994)	March 1980	November 1987	7 years, 8 months	PLA Ground Force
8		Haotian, ChiGeneral Chi Haotian 迟浩田 (born 1929)	November 1987	November 1992	5 years	PLA Ground Force
9		Wannian, ZhangGeneral Zhang Wannian 张万年 (1928–2015)	November 1992	September 1995	2 years, 10 months	PLA Ground Force
10		Quanyou, FuGeneral Fu Quanyou 傅全有 (born 1930)	September 1995	November 2002	7 years, 2 months	PLA Ground Force
11		Guanglie, LiangGeneral Liang Guanglie 梁光烈 (1940–2024)	November 2002	September 2007	4 years, 10 months	PLA Ground Force
12		Bingde, ChenGeneral Chen Bingde 陈炳德 (born 1941) [4]	September 2007	October 2012	5 years, 1 month	PLA Ground Force
13		Fenghui, FangGeneral Fang Fenghui 房峰辉 (born 1951)	October 2012	January 2016	3 years, 3 months	PLA Ground Force
General Staff Department is renamed to Joint Staff Department
14		Fenghui, FangGeneral Fang Fenghui 房峰辉 (born 1951)	11 January 2016	26 August 2017	1 year, 227 days	PLA Ground Force
15		Zuocheng, LiGeneral Li Zuocheng 李作成 (born 1953)	26 August 2017	16 October 2022	5 years, 51 days	PLA Ground Force
16		Zhenli, LiuGeneral Liu Zhenli 刘振立 (born 1964)	6 March 2023		1 year, 291 days	PLA Ground Force

References

1. "国防部新闻事务局官微发布中央军委机关英文译名". People's Daily. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
2. "Xi urges reorganized military organs to focus on winning wars". Xinhua. Archived from the original on 11 January 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
3. "Ministry of National Defense: CMC". Official Website of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense.
4. (in Chinese) RFA: 陈炳德晋升为中国军队总参谋长 Archived 2007-06-27 at archive.today