Editing People's Liberation Army (section)

=== Grades ===
{{main|Grades of the armed forces of China}}
Grades determine the [[command hierarchy]] from the CMC to the platoon level. Entities command lower-graded entities, and coordinate with like-graded entities.{{sfn|Pollpeter|Allen|2012|p=16}} An organization's grade impacts the resources allocated to it.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cunningham |first=Fiona S. |title=Under the Nuclear Shadow: China's Information-Age Weapons in International Security |date=2025 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-0-691-26103-4 |location=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=89}} Since 1988, all organizations, billets, and officers in the PLA have a grade.{{sfn|Pollpeter|Allen|2012|p=18}}

[[Civil–military relations]] within the wider state bureaucracy is also influenced by grades. The grading systems used by the armed forces and the government are parallel, making it easier for military entities to identify the civilian entities they should coordinate with.{{sfn|Pollpeter|Allen|2012|p=16}}

An officer's authority, eligibility for billets, pay, and retirement age is determined by grade.{{sfn|Kaufman|Mackenzie|2009|pp=73-74}}{{sfn|Pollpeter|Allen|2012|p=16}} Career progression includes lateral transfers between billets of the same grade, but which are not considered promotions.{{sfn|Pollpeter|Allen|2012|p=17}}{{sfn|Kaufman|Mackenzie|2009|p=73}} An officer retiring to the civil service has their grade translated to the civil grade system;{{sfn|Pollpeter|Allen|2012|p=16}} their grade continues to progress and draw retirement benefits through the civil system rather than the armed forces.{{sfn|Kaufman|Mackenzie|2009|p=74}}

Historically, an officer's grade — or position ({{zh|s=职务等级|p=zhiwu dengji}}<ref name="jt_wuthnow_saunders_2021-03-16">{{Cite web |last1=Wuthnow |first1=Joel |last2=Saunders |first2=Phillip C. |date=16 March 2021 |title=A New Step Forward in PLA Professionalization |url=https://jamestown.org/program/a-new-step-forward-in-pla-professionalization/ |access-date=22 June 2024 |website=The Jamestown Foundation |language=en |archive-date=22 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622160617/https://jamestown.org/program/a-new-step-forward-in-pla-professionalization/ |url-status=live }}</ref>) — was more important than their ''[[Ranks of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force|rank]]'' ({{zh|s=军衔|p=junxian}}<ref name="jt_wuthnow_saunders_2021-03-16"/>).{{sfn|Pollpeter|Allen|2012|p=16}} Historically, time-in-grade and time-in-rank requirements<ref name="jamestown_allen_2010-07-22">{{Cite web |last1=Allen |first1=Kenneth |title=Assessing the PLA's Promotion Ladder to CMC Member Based on Grades vs. Ranks – Part 1 |url=https://jamestown.org/program/assessing-the-plas-promotion-ladder-to-cmc-member-based-on-grades-vs-ranks-part-1/ |access-date=2024-05-12 |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-05-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240511105015/https://jamestown.org/program/assessing-the-plas-promotion-ladder-to-cmc-member-based-on-grades-vs-ranks-part-1/ |website=The Jamestown Foundation |date=22 July 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> and promotions were not synchronized;{{sfn|Pollpeter|Allen|2012|p=17}} multiple ranks were present in each grade{{sfn|Pollpeter|Allen|2012|p=19}} with all having the same authority.{{sfn|Kaufman|Mackenzie|2009|p=74}} Rank was mainly a visual aid to roughly determine relative position when interacting with Chinese and foreign personnel.{{sfn|Pollpeter|Allen|2012|p=16}} PLA etiquette preferred addressing personnel by position rather than by rank.{{sfn|Kaufman|Mackenzie|2009|p=77}} Reforms to a more rank-centric system began in 2021.<ref name="jt_wuthnow_saunders_2021-03-16"/> In 2023, a revised grade structure associated one rank per grade, with some ranks spanning multiple grades.<ref name="dalate_cs_grades">{{Cite web |title=中国公务员的级别和职级 |trans-title=Chinese civil service grades and ranks |url=http://www.dltdjw.gov.cn/ywgz/gwygl/202303/t20230309_3357858.html |date=9 March 2023 |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=Dalate Banner Party Building Network |archive-date=2024-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614215401/http://www.dltdjw.gov.cn/ywgz/gwygl/202303/t20230309_3357858.html |url-status=live |language=zh }}</ref>