PLA Members in 19th Central Committee
This is Part 1 of the project. Click here to go to Part 2.
Introduction
Here, we have plotted the current distribution of PLA officers in the 19th Central Committee. We have classified these individuals based on age, representation of Theatre Commands (TCs), and representation of service branches.
The 19th Central Committee (19th CC) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was elected by the 19th National Congress in 2017. The 19th CC will be functional till late 2022, which is when the Party’s National Congress convenes and appoints 20th Central Committee (20th CC). The data used for the analysis here also includes members affiliated with the People's Armed Police (PAP) for analysis.
Composition of the 19th Central Committee
The members of the Central Committee (CC) are elected by vote cast in the National Congress. The 19th CC has 204 full members (委员 weiyuan) and 172 alternate members (候补委员 houbuweiyuan). The full members have the right to vote on matters put forward in the CC, while alternate members do not have that right.
A total of 66 members of the 19th CC were drawn from the armed forces. This includes members from the PLA and the PAP. Out of the 204 full members, 42 belong to the armed forces. Out of 172 alternate members, 24 belong to the armed forces.
Membership in Previous Central Committees
As per Article 21 of the constitution of the CPC, the “number of Central Committee members and alternate members to be replaced or newly elected shall not exceed one-fifth of the respective totals of full and alternate members elected to the Central Committee by the National Congress of the Party” (Constitution of the Communist Party of China, 2017). This means at most 20% of members of the CC can be newly elected.
The 19th CC did not abide by this provision. Around 60% of members of the 19th CC were newly elected. Out of the 66 armed forces members who were on the 19th CC, 83.33% were newly appointed. Only 11 of the 66 members were either full or alternate members of previous central committees (either the 17th CC or 18th CC).
Age Distribution of PLA members in 19th CC
36.36% (24 out of 66) of PLA members in 19th CC are aged 65 and above. The age distribution of the PLA members in the 19th CC is given in the adjoining figure. The retirement age for PLA officers, when it comes to active service, is 65 years. This means that around 36% (24) members of the armed forces who are part of the 19th CC will retire from active service before the 20th CC. It is likely that these individuals will not be re-elected during the 20th Party Congress. However, those who are below the age of 65 are likely to be eligible for election to the 20th CC, and they can serve a full five-year term thereafter.
Rank Distribution of PLA Members in 19th CC
As of January 2022, PLA officers ranked as “General”, and “Admiral” constituted the bulk of the PLA’s representation on the 19th CC. Some of these members were promoted to the rank of General after being elected to the CC. “Admiral” is an equivalent rank of “General” used in the Navy. Including retired generals and admirals, 38 out of 66 officers in the 19th CC are the highest-ranked officers.
Theatre Command Distribution in 19th CC
After the 2015 reform, the PLA’s Military Regions were done away with in favour of establishing five Theatre Commands (TC), namely the Eastern Theatre Command (ETC), Western Theatre Command (WTC), Northern Theatre Command (NTC), Southern Theatre Command (STC), and Central Theatre Command (CTC) (refer to Fig 1 above).
Service Distribution of PLA Members in 19th CC
The PLA is also divided into different service branches. These are the Army (PLAA/PLAGF), Navy (PLAN), Air Force (PLAAF), Rocket Force (PLARF), Strategic Support Force (PLASSF), and Logistics Support Force (PLALSF) (refer to Fig 1 above).
Navigate through the dashboard below to explore various aspects of PLA member distribution in 19th CC.
Authors
