In 1946, the first Chinese ceremonial unit was formed in Yan’an to welcome the visit of General George Marshall, the special envoy of US President Harry Truman. The 500-member honor guard was commissioned by Eighth Route Army Commander-in-Chief Zhu De and rehearsed the day before the visit at Yan'an Airport. The unit would later serve under the newly formed PRC as Mao Zedong's protocol unit for the presentation of credentials. On 16 October, 16 days after the Proclamation of the People's Republic of China, members of the unit provided honors to incoming Soviet ambassador Nikolai Roshchin. In June 1953, Premier Zhou Enlai ordered to create an official battalion on the unit's basis. Around that same time, the battalion was tasked with guarding the Korean War negotiations. In its early stages, it was based in Yilong Camp and only conducted small arrival ceremonies such as the one for Indonesian President Sukarno in 1956 and North Korean leader Kim il-Sung and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1959. In 1956, the battalion became a tri-service unit and in September 1957, Premier Zhou personally changed the report of the guard commander to: "Comrade (states title of leader)", the Honor Guard of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, has lined up for your inspection", which is still used today.