| Unit Name: | People's Liberation Army Reserve Force |
| Dates: | 1955－1957 1983 -- present |
| Type: | Reserve force |
| Role: | Reinforcing regular army strength, ground operations, border and coastal protection |
| Size: | 510,000 [1] |
| Command Structure: | Central Military Commission |
| Garrison: | Beijing |
| Current Commander Label: | Director of the National Defense Mobilization Department |
| Current Commander: | PLAGF Lt Gen Liu Faqing (刘发庆) |
| Ceremonial Chief Label: | Political Commissar of the NDMD |
| Ceremonial Chief: | PLAGF Lt Gen Wang Donghai (王东海) |
| Identification Symbol: | 100px |
| Identification Symbol Label: | Cap badge |
| Identification Symbol 2: | 100px |
| Identification Symbol 2 Label: | Shoulder badge |
The Reserve Force of the People's Liberation Army is the military reserve force of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). It is composed of a trained force of (mostly retired veteran) civilians that retain an inactive military status, and are subject to fast mobilization.[2] in case of wartime or other crises, at which time they are transferred to active duty and their units activated into full service.
The reserve forces are organized as full units with a small number of active servicemen as an organizational skeleton, plus a larger body of reserve officers and soldiers in call-up ready state. Reserve units follow the unified organization of the PLA and are entered into the official PLA TOEs and order of battle. The PLA reserve forces are directly under the leadership of the Central Military Commission (CMC).[3] The National Defense Mobilization Department of the CMC manages the recruitment, unit assignment and mobilization structures.
The reserve force of the People's Liberation Army of China was originally established with the formalization of the PLA structures in 1955, but was soon abolished in 1957.[4] At the time, the concept of people's war essentially made the Militia into a de facto reserve force, and former PLA servicemen entered the militia as "cadre militia" when demobilized.[5]
In 1983, the CMC decided to restore a formal PLA reserve force and officially named it the "People's Liberation Army Reserve Force", starting with a pilot unit in Jinzhou.[2] In May 1984, the reserve force was included in the Military Service Law of the People's Republic of China. Initially, the reserve force was solely infantry units. After the 1990s, it developed into infantry, artillery, armor, engineering, communications, chemical defense and other services. When the People's Liberation Army Reserve Forces were first established, they were under the dual leadership of the military on the one hand, and the local Chinese Communist Party (CCP) committees and local People's Governments on the other. On 10 August 10, 1986, the reserve force was included in the organizational order of battle of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and the division and regiment-level units of the reserve force were awarded designations and presented with Colours.[6]
As part of the 2015 People's Republic of China military reform, from 1 July 2020, the reserve force began to be readjusted from dual military and civilian leadership to CMC leadership.[7]
A new Reservist Law[8] passed in 2022, and entered into effect on 1 March 2023. It eliminated the dual authority system, and for the first time excluded the Militia from the formal reserve force.[9] The new law established a formal system of "selection, training, appointment, management, recruitment and retirement", with an explicit intent of recruiting and retaining a wider range of talents and specialists.[10]
The Reservists Law gives the Central Committee of the CCP and the Central Military Commission full and exclusive authority over the Reserve Force, with every department of the CMC having different obligations. The most central of those offices is the National Defense Mobilization Department, which is responsible for assigning reservists to units, and for calling them up when needed.[11] Temporary call-up by Theater Commands seems to be possible for emergencies and disasters, as happened in the aftermath of typhoon Meranti in 2016,[2] or by order of the central command as during the Anhui floods of 2020.[12]
Reservists are by law[13] a distinct form of military service status, and the individual reservist status is distinct and independent from belonging to any reserve forces' formation. Before the new revised Military Service Law took effect on October 1, 2021, reserve personnel included four forms: pre-assignment to active forces, incorporation into reserve forces, incorporation into militia organizations for reserve service, and other forms of reserve service, a very wide definition. The new Reserve Service Law of 2022 define reservists exclusively to PRC citizens 18 and older who are "preassigned" to active duty units or are assigned to reserve units. That means that only those pre-registered, with a predetermined obligation to join a specific unit when mobilized, are classified as reserve personnel, thus excluding the militia.[14] [9]
The law also specified that reservists include both enlisted and officers, specifying that reserve officers can only be of company or field grade. There are no reserve general officers, meaning that the higher leadership of larger reserve units has to be active service staff assigned to the skeletal units.[15] [16]
Before the 2022 reforms, reserve officers were mainly selected from qualified veterans, local cadres, people's armed cadres, militia cadres, and technical personnel with local and military occupations. Reserve troops generally conducted 240 hours of military and political training every year. The new law indicates that the PLA will recruit reservists mainly from former PLA active duty personnel, and from professional and technical personnel that "meet the conditions for reserve service and have registered for reserve service." This last clause allowing the possibility of non-veteran specialist reservists. It is also to be noted that entering the reserves is not automatic for soldiers ending their military service. The minimum term of the reserve service shall be four years.
One of the main goals of the reforms was to improve the attractiveness of reserve duty. The new law clarified financial aid for training costs, and clarifies that reservists participating in training of active duty shall have the same medical insurance, benefits, and compensation as active duty member.
The law specifies the ranks and mandatory retirement ages for reserve officers and enlisted personnel, with age of retirement increasing with rank.
| Reserve Field Grade Officers | Reserve Senior Colonel | 60 |
| Reserve Colonel | ||
| Reserve Lieutenant Colonel | ||
| Reserve Major | ||
| Reserve Company Grade Officers | Reserve Captain | Command track officers: 45 Technical track officers: 50 |
| Reserve Lieutenant | ||
| Reserve Second Lieutenant |
| Reserve Senior Grade NCOs | Reserve Master Sergeant Class One | 55 |
| Reserve Master Sergeant Class Two | ||
| Reserve Master Sergeant Class Three | ||
| Reserve Intermediate Grade NCOs | Reserve Sergeant First Class | |
| Reserve Sergeant Second Class | 45 | |
| Reserve Junior Grade NCOs | Reserve Sergeant | |
| Reserve Corporal | ||
| Reserve Junior Enlisted | Reserve Private First Class | 30 |
| Reserve Private |
The approximately 550,000 reservists of the PLA Reserve Force are assigned to units that are maintained in peacetime as skeletal organizations with a standing active service staff. The organization of these Reserve Force units is in flux. It is unclear, for instance, if the Reserve Forces will be fully "brigadized" like the regular PLA forces., they included at least the following, but the changes in structure of the Reserve Force are ongoing, and the TOEs change extremely fast.[18] The Ministry of National Defense declared in 2020 that there would be a reduction of the Ground Force reserves and an increase of reserves for the other services,[19] but it is unknown the degree that has occurred yet, and we have no clear indication of PLAAF or PLAN large-scale reserve units.