The is a listing of Chinese ground forces in the early-to-mid 1990's including relevant PLA Air Force and Navy units.
Peoples Liberation Army
2,300,000 Troops (including 1,075,000 conscripts)
0,600,000 Reserves
Organisation
7 Military Regions (including 28 Military Districts, 3 Garrison Commands)
24 Integrated Group Armies
10 Tank Divisions
84 Infantry Divisions
4 Airborne Divisions: 4 (under Air Force control)
7 Artillery Divisions
4 Air Defence Artillery Divisions
14 Independent Tank Brigades
21 Independent Artillery Brigades
28 Independent Anti-Aircraft Brigades
50 Independent Engineer Regiments
6 Rapid Deployment Force Battalions
5 Group Helicopter Battalions
* Chinese reserves add another 54 infantry divisions.
* Note Integrated Group Armies are equivalent to Western Corps (43,500 troops). Organization varies but typically includes 4 division (1 tank, 3 infantry, 1 artillery) and 1 airborne brigade.
* Note: PLA divisions were smaller than Western and Soviet divisions. A typical Chinese tank division had 9,200 troops and infantry divisions had 12,700 troops.
Deployment
1) North-East Shenyang Military Region (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning military districts)
5 Ground Army, 2 Missile Army, 19 divisions (3 tank, 15 infantry, 1 artillery)
2) North-Beijing Military Region (Beijing and Tianjin Garrison Commands, Hebei, Nei, Monggol, Shanxi military districts)
6 Ground Army, 1 Missile Army, 27 divisions (2 tank, 20 infantry, 1 Airborne, 2 artillery, 2 air defence)
3) West-Lanzhou Military Region (Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Sichuan, Xinjiang, South Xinjiang military districts)
2 Ground Army, 2 Missile Army, 13 divisions (1 tank, 12 infantry)
4) South West-Chengdu Military Region (Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, Xizang military districts)
2 Ground Army, 1 Missile Army, 8 divisions (7 infantry, 1 artillery)
5) South-Guangzhou Military Region (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan military districts)
2 Ground Army, 8 divisions (6 infantry, 1 artillery, 1 air defence)
6) Centre-Jinan Military Region (Henan, Shandong military districts)
4 Ground Army, 19 divisions (2 tanks, 13 infantry, 3 airborne, 1 artillery)
7) East-Nanjing Military Region (Shanghai Garrison Command, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zheijiang military districts)
3 Ground Army, 15 divisions (2 tanks, 11 infantry, 1 artillery, 1 air defence)
The PLA was huge in numbers and fielded 8,000 MBT and 1,200 light tanks. The PLA had 6,000 Type-59 MBT, the rest were Type-69, Type-79 and a few Type-80 and Type-90. The PLA had for its size relatively few mechanised armoured vehicles and self propelled artillery compared to NATO and Warsaw Pact armies. The PLA did have 14,500 towed artillery guns, 3,800 rocket artillery and 15,000 AA guns. SAM's included HN-5/5A/C and some HQ-6, all basically copies of Soviet and Western SAM. Anti-tank missiles were also basically copies of Soviet and Western systems. The PLA had about 100 helicopters, all license built from France or purchased from the US.
The PLAAF (Chinese Air Force): The PLAAF controlled 4 airborne divisions that were assigned to the PLA. The PLAAF also operated 16 Air Defence Artillery Divisions and 28 independent regiments with 16,000 air defence guns and 100 SAM units with HQ-2/2B/2J and HQ-61 SAM.
The PLAN (Chinese Navy): The PLAN had a naval infantry force of 1 brigade of 6,000 troops facing Taiwan, and also some special forces. On full mobilization the naval infantry would include a total of 8 divisions of 52 regiments (10 tank, 24 infantry and 8 artillery). Additionally the PLA had 3 infantry divisions that had an amphibious role. The PLAN Coastal Regional Defence Force also had 27,000 troops organised into 35 artillery regiments who operated CSS-C-2 anti-ship missiles and 130mm, 100mm and 85mm guns.
Para-Military Forces: Chinese paramilitary forces stood at about 12,000,000 and included the Ministry of Public Security, the People Armed Police and the Militia.
The Ministry of Public Security is the principle police and security organisation of China. At this time the Ministry of Public Security was unarmed and stood at over 1 million personnel. The People Armed Police is armed and is responsible for internal security, law enforcement and maritime protection in China as well as providing support to the PLA in wartime. The People Armed Police stood at about 750,000 personnel at this time and controlled the Border Defence Corps, a Para-military force of 1,029 border, mountain and internal defence battalions.
The largest Para-military force in China is the Militia. There were two classes of Militia. The Basic or Armed Militia was comprised of groups of men and women aged 18-30 who had served or were expected to serve in the PLA, and who received thirty to forty days of military training per year. The basic militia included naval militia which operated armed fishing trawlers and coastal defence units, as well as specialized detachments such as air defence, artillery, communications, anti-chemical, reconnaissance and engineering units. They were grouped in the Armed Militia of up to 4.3 million organized into about 75 cadre divisions and 2,000 regiments. The Ordinary Militia included men aged 18-35 who met the criteria for military service. They received some basic military training but generally were unarmed. The ordinary militia had some air defence duties and included the urban militia and a strength of 6 million. In wartime the militia would supply reserves for mobilization, provide logistical support to the PLA, and conduct guerrilla operations behind enemy lines.
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