Ranks of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force

The current system of officer ranks and insignia, a revision of the ranks and insignia established in 1955, began usage in 1988. The 1955 to 1965 marshal officer ranks of yuánshuài (5-star Marshal) and dà yuánshuài (6-star grand marshal) were not revived. The general officer ranks (jiang) were revised by the addition of semi-circular wreath at the bottom of the insignia and by a change in the name of the highest general officer rank from da jiang (4-star General) to yi ji shang jiang (4-star first class colonel general). This highest rank in the new system was never held and was abolished in 1994. The field officer (Xiao) and company officer (Wei) ranks were the same in title and insignia except that highest company-level officer rank of Da Wei in the 1955–1965 system was not included in the revived ranks. The final difference between the two systems is that in 1955–1965 there existed a warrant officer rank, Zhun Wei, which was not incorporated in the revived rank system, while new system had a rank for officer cadets, Xue Yuan. Despite being the rank below Shao Wei in both systems, the insignia have no similarities.

Officer rank names are usually not translated literally, but rather to a corresponding rank system. This can lead to different translations being used depending on the system chosen for the correspondences. The 1955–1965 system, with its greater number of officer ranks, is usually translated using the Soviet rank system of that era, while the modern officer ranks are usually given a NATO rank correspondence. For example, the non-literal translation used for the rank of Shang Jiang (literally "senior general") depends on whether one is comparing it to Soviet or Russian ranks (colonel general) or to British or U.S. ranks (general).

Title	学员 Xue yuan	少尉 Shao wei	中尉 Zhong wei	上尉 Shang wei	少校 Shao xiao	中校 Zhong xiao	上校 Shang xiao	大校 Da xiao	少将 Shao jiang	中将 Zhong jiang	上将 Shang jiang
Usual translation	Officer cadet (OF-D)	2nd lieutenant (OF-1)	1st lieutenant (OF-1)	Captain (OF-2)	Major (OF-3)	Lieutenant colonel (OF-4)	Colonel (OF-5)	Senior colonel (OF-6)	Major general (OF-7)	Lieutenant general (OF-8)	General (OF-9)
Shoulder insignia
Collar Insignia

The current system of other ranks and insignia dates from 2009.[1]

Unlike NATO countries, new recruits of the People's Liberation Army have no military ranks before the boot camp is completed, and they will be awarded the rank of Private/Seaman Apprentice/Airman (All collectively called "Private" or "Lie Bing" in the Chinese Language) after they have graduated from the boot camp[2]. According to Article 16 of Chapter 3 of the "Regulations on the Service of Active Soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army" (Chinese: 中国人民解放军现役士兵服役条例), "The lowest enlisted rank is Private".[2]

Title	列兵 Lie bing	上等兵 Shang deng bing	下士 Xia shi	中士 Zhong shi	上士 Shang shi	四级军士长 Si ji jun shi zhang	三级军士长 San ji jun shi zhang	二级军士长 Er ji jun shi zhang	一级军士长 Yi ji jun shi zhang
Usual Translation	Private (OR-1)	Private 1st class (OR-2)	Corporal (OR-3)	Sergeant (OR-4)	Staff Sergeant (OR-5)	Master sergeant class four (OR-6)	Master sergeant class three (OR-7)	Master sergeant class two (OR-8)	Master sergeant class one (OR-9)
Shoulder Insignia
Collar Insignia

The ranks of the People's Liberation Army Air Force generally has the same names, position and ranks as the People's Liberation Army Ground Force, and their insignia correspond except Air Force ranks are on a light blue background instead of green.

Ranks of the People's Liberation Army Navy also have corresponding insignia with a black background, but are only worn with the dress white uniforms, as only sleeve insignia are used in the dress blue uniform for officers, with other ranks retaining the shoulder board insignia.