Xinjiang Military District


Xinjiang Military District is a special military area of the PLA at the People's [Liberation Army Unit Grades|Theater Deputy-grade]. It is one of three districts that are directly under the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission rather than under their Theater Command.
The district includes all of Xinjiang, plus the Ngari district of Tibet. It has also direct military jurisdiction over the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

History

The Xinjiang Military District of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was founded in December 1949 as a subordinate military area to the Northwest Military Region and was elevated to a major military region in May 1955, operating directly under the Central Military Commission's authority.
In 1979, it was rebranded as the Urumqi Military Region; in June 1985, it amalgamated with the Lanzhou Military Region and concurrently established the Xinjiang Military Region, which operated at the corps level under the auspices of the Lanzhou Military Region; in April 1992, it was elevated to full military status following the dissolution of the corps-level structure; in October 1998, it was promoted to the status of vice-great-military region.
The current Xinjiang Military District was created in 2016 from the former Lanzhou Military Region as part of the 2015 [People's Republic of China military reform|2015 reforms]. While it is officially under the jurisdiction of the Western Theater.
The XMD covers the contested area of Aksai Chin, and it is a sensitive hotspot in China's borders. In 2020, it was the XMD that got involved in skirmishes and a protracted stand-off with India.
Recently there have been efforts to create a "six-in-one" border defense system, in which the PLA, the police, the militia, party officials, government officials, and civilians would cooperate in patrolling the enormously long and harsh border of both the Xinjiang and Tibet MDs, with an emphasis on local nomadic tribes that know the terrain and are highly mobile by definition.

Territorial Command Divisions

The XMD is divided into the northern district and the southern Xinjiang subdistrict, which is a Corps-graded unit responsible for the volatile Sino-Indian border.
These two main sub-areas are then divided into the following command sectors, generally comprising a prefecture:Directly under the Xinjiang Military District:
  • * Urumqi Garrison Area
  • * Karamay Military Sector
  • * Shihezi Military Sector
  • * Turpan Military Sector
  • * Hami Military Sector
  • * Changji Military Sector
  • * Ili Military Sector
  • * Tacheng Military Sector
  • * Altay Military Sector
  • * Bortala Military Sector Southern Xinjiang Military Region – 南疆军区
  • * Bayingolin Military Sector
  • * Aksu Military Sector
  • * Kashgar Military Sector
  • * Kizilsu Military Sector
  • * Hotan Military Sector
  • * Ngari Military Sector
  • '''XPCC Military Department 新疆生产建设兵团军事部'''

Current Military Units

As of 2022, the People's Liberation Army Ground Force units garrisoning the District are as follows. Xinjiang is one of the few military regions in which full divisions are still retained as an organizational level post the 2015 reforms. Due to the very long border it patrols, there are also fifteen Border Defense regiments assigned as well as the main maneuver force.

Maneuver Force

Border Defense Units

The Border Defense regiments cover some of the most challenging terrain in the world, and it is occasionally reported that some units still use horses for patrolling.