Early systems The
Chinese Red Army, and later the PLA, did not use grades or ranks during the
Chinese Civil War. Personnel were addressed by job titles. During the
Second United Front period, the
Eighth Route Army and the
New Fourth Army were officially part of the
Kuomintang's
National Revolutionary Army, and therefore formally used its system of ranks from 1937 to 1946; this was not official
Chinese Communist Party policy. After the establishment of the
PRC, a 21-grade system was adopted in 1952. In 1955, this changed to 20 grades, combined with 15 Soviet-based military ranks; the ranks were abolished in 1965. The number of grades changed to 27 in 1965, 23 in 1972, and 18 in 1979; the 1965 and 1972 changes were based on the State Administrative Grade System.
1988 reforms The 1988 system had 15 grades and 10 ranks. The grades paralleled the civil grade system. The system had a many-to-many relationship between grades and ranks because grade and rank promotions were unsynchronized. From 1988 to 1994, there were three ranks allowable per grade; by 2021 there were two ranks per grade. A rank could also appear across grades; for example, major general could appear from division leader to military region deputy leader grades. The vague relationship between grades and ranks was not the only problem. Further difficulties appeared with the
Deepening National Defense and Military Reform - particularly the operational reorganization around
theater commands - and the disruption of career paths with the conversion of many divisions and regiments into brigades. Theater command leader and theater command deputy leader replaced military region leader and military region deputy leader respectively. and then to deputy division leader and regiment leader in 2020. The revised officer grade system associated each grade to one rank, although a rank could be associated with multiple grades. ==Insignia==