Editing People's Liberation Army Navy (section)

====PLAN Marine Corps====
{{Main|People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps}}
[[File:Shooting range at 1st Marine Brigade in Zhanjiang, China..jpg|thumb|250px|PLAN Marines of the 1st Marine Brigade and members of the [[USMC]] fire the [[Type 95 Assault Rifle]] during an exchange exercise in 2006.]]
[[File:140716-G-HN254-571 (14714332244).jpg|thumb|A PLAN marine with a boarding team assigned to the [[guided missile destroyer]] ''[[Chinese destroyer Haikou (171)|Haikou]]'' during a maritime operations exercise in [[RIMPAC]] 2014.]]
The PLAN Marine Corps was originally established in the 1950s and then re-established in 1979 under PLAN organisation.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hanson |first1=Capt. Michael A. |title=China's Marine Corps Is on the Rise |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/april/chinas-marine-corps-rise |website=U.S. Naval Institute |date=April 2020 |access-date=16 July 2021}}</ref>  It consists of around 30,000-40,000 [[marines]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kennedy |first=Conor |date=2021-10-01 |title=China Maritime Report No. 15: The New Chinese Marine Corps: A "Strategic Dagger" in a Cross-Strait Invasion |url=https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-maritime-reports/15/ |journal=CMSI China Maritime Reports}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaushal |first=Sidharth |date=2022-09-07 |title=The Distinctive Force Structure of the Expanded PLA Navy Marine Corps |url=https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/distinctive-force-structure-expanded-pla-navy-marine-corps |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=RUSI}}</ref> with roughly two brigades in each theater. The Marine Corps are considered elite troops, and are [[rapid deployment force]]s trained primarily in [[amphibious warfare]] and sometimes in [[air assault]]s to establish a [[beachhead]] or act as a spearhead during assault operations against enemy targets.

The marines are equipped with the standard [[QBZ-95|Type 95 assault rifle]]s as well as other [[small arms]] and personnel equipment, and until 2022 they had distinct blue/littoral camouflage uniform as standard (now being replaced by more subdued coloring based on the [[Xingkong (camouflage)|xingkong]] pattern).  The marines are also equipped with [[amphibious vehicle|amphibious]] [[armoured fighting vehicle]]s (including amphibious [[assault gun|assault vehicle]]s such as the [[Type 05 amphibious fighting vehicle#Variants|ZTD-05]] and [[infantry fighting vehicle|IFV]]s such as [[Type 05 amphibious fighting vehicle#Variants|ZBD-05]]), [[military helicopter|helicopter]]s, [[naval artillery]], [[anti-aircraft]] weapon systems, and short range [[surface-to-air missile]]s.

With the PLAN's accelerating efforts to expand its capabilities beyond territorial waters, it would be likely for the Marine Corps to play a greater role in terms of being an offshore [[expeditionary warfare|expeditionary force]] similar to the [[United States Marine Corps|USMC]] and [[Royal Marines]].