Paramilitary forces of China The Chinese Paramilitary Forces are composed of three main forces , the People ' s Armed Police ( PAP ) , the militia , and the reserve force , and they act as auxiliaries to the People ' s Liberation Army ( PLA ) . They generally perform a wide range of roles . Altogether , the paramilitary has 3 , 969 , 000 troops , as of 2006 . See List of countries by number of total troops . People ' s Armed Police . The People ' s Armed Police Force ( PAP ) is a paramilitary police force primarily responsible for law enforcement and internal security nationwide during peacetime . In time of war , the PAP would be used as light infantry to support the PLA . According to the constitution of the PRC , the PAP is one the three integral elements of the Chinese armed forces , along with the People ' s Liberation Army ( PLA ) and the militia and reserve forces . The China ' s National Defence White Paper published in 2006 claimed that the total strength of the PAP was 660 , 000 people . Militia . China ' s Militia , a mass force engaged in daily production under the leadership of the Communist Party of China ( CCP ) , forms part of the Chinese armed forces . Under the command of the military organs , it undertakes such jobs as war preparation services , security and defense operation tasks and assistance in maintaining social order and public security . History . The role of the militia and the degree of party and PLA control over it have varied over the years . During the 1940s the militia served primarily as a PLA support force . After 1949 the consolidated control over the country and gradually used the militia to maintain order and help the PLA with defense of the borders and coast . In the mid - 1950s Minister of National Defense Peng Dehuai attempted to build a reserve system incorporating the militia . Peng ' s efforts were thwarted when the party expanded the militia , assigning it duties as a production force and internal security force during the Great Leap Forward . Lin Biao reduced the size of the militia and reemphasized military training in the early 1960s . The militia was fragmented during the early years of the Cultural Revolution , but in the 1970s it was rebuilt and redirected to support the PLA . The Gang of Four attempted to build up the urban militia as an alternative to the PLA , but the urban militia failed to support the Gang of Four in 1976 , when Hua Guofeng and moderate military leaders deposed them . The militia ' s logistic al support of the PLA was essential during the Sino - Vietnamese border war of 1979 . In the 1980s Chinese leaders undertook to improve the militia ' s military capabilities by reducing its size and its economic tasks . In 1987 the militia was controlled by the PLA at the military district level and by people ' s armed forces departments , which devolved to civilian control at the county and city levels as part of the reduction in force . The militia was a smaller force than previously , consisting of 4 . 3 million basic or primary — armed — militia , and the 6 - million - strong general or ordinary militia . The basic militia was made up of men and women aged eighteen to twenty - eight who had served or were expected to serve in the PLA and who received thirty to forty days of military training per year . The basic militia included naval militia , which operated armed fishing trawlers and coastal defense units , as well as specialized detachments , such as air defense , artillery , communications , antichemical , reconnaissance , and engineering units , which served the PLA . The ordinary militia included men aged eighteen to thirty - five who met the criteria for military service ; they received some basic military training but generally were unarmed . The ordinary militia had some air defense duties and included the urban militia . Efforts were made to streamline militia organization and upgrade militia weaponry . By 1986 militia training bases had been established in over half the counties and cities in the nation . The militia ' s principal tasks in the 1980s were to assist in production , to undergo military training , and to defend China ' s frontiers in peacetime . In wartime , the militia would supply reserves for mobilization , provide logistical support to the PLA , and conduct guerrilla operations behind enemy lines . Reserve service system . The 1984 Military Service Law stipulated the combination of the militia and the reserve service system . Military training for senior middle - school and college and university students commenced in 1984 as China sought to provide additional qualified reserve service officers . The reserve force consisted primarily of the militia and was organized into reserve - service divisions and regiments . In 1987 China began to make reference to the National Defense Reserve Force , which apparently consisted of reserve soldiers ( including all militia , demobilized soldiers , and specialized technical personnel registered for reserve service ) and reserve officers ( including demobilized officers and soldiers assigned to reserve officer service , college and university graduates , and civilian officials and specialized technicians . Production and Construction Corps . Before the Cultural Revolution , the Production and Construction Corps was a paramilitary organization of 3 to 4 million people under joint government , party , and PLA control . The Production and Construction Corps was used in remote and unproductive areas to build roads , reclaim land , construct defense and water works , and operate mines , state farms , and industrial plants . A secondary role was border defense , and some units were armed with light infantry weapons . All received basic military training . Unlike the militia , Production and Construction Corps personnel were full time and uniformed . The PLA took over the Production and Construction Corps during the Cultural Revolution , then civilianized it in the 1970s . In the 1980s the corps appeared to have been abolished except in Xinjiang Autonomous Region . There it operated under regional party and government organizations , the Xinjiang Military District , and the Ministry of Agriculture , Animal Husbandry , and Fishery . See also . Other paramilitary forces : References .