Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps
| Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1954-present |
| Country |
 People's Republic of China
|
| Allegiance | Communist Party of China |
| Type | State-owned enterprise & Paramilitary |
| Size | 2.6 million |
| Headquarters and area served | Ürümqi & Xinjiang |
| Nickname(s) | Bingtuan |
| Divisions | 14 |
| Website | www |
| Commanders | |
| Commander-in-Chief | Liu Xinqi |
| Political Commissar | Chen Quanguo |
| Party Secretary | Sun Jinlong |
| Notable commanders |
Wang Zhen |
The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, known as XPCC or Bingtuan for short, is a unique economic and paramilitary organization in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the China. The XPCC has administrative authority over several medium-sized cities as well as settlements and farms in Xinjiang. It has its own administrative structure, fulfilling governmental functions such as healthcare and education for areas under its jurisdiction. The Government of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region does not usually interfere in the administration of these areas.
The XPCC was founded by Wang Zhen in 1954 under the orders of Mao Zedong. The stated goals of the XPCC are to develop frontier regions, promote economic development, ensure social stability and ethnic harmony, and consolidate border defense. In its 50-year history, the XPCC has built farms, towns, and cities, and provided land and work for disbanded military units. The XPCC also participates in economic activities, and is known as the China Xinjian Group (中国新建集团). It has a number of publicly traded subsidiaries.
The XPCC draws from the traditional Chinese tuntian system, a policy of settling military units in frontier areas so that they become self-sufficient in food, and similar policies in the Tang and Qing dynasties. Construction corps were set up for several sparsely populated frontier regions, including Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang. The newly founded People's Republic of China also had the problem of what to do with many former non-Communist soldiers who had been removed from economic production for many years. Ideas about settling such soldiers on the land had been common in China for many years. The Chinese government formed the XPCC from soldiers from the (Communist) First Field Army, former Kuomintang soldiers and soldiers from the local Ili National Army. The XPCC itself was founded in October 1954, comprising 175,000 military personnel based in Xinjiang, led by Tao Zhiyue as its first commander-in-chief.
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Wikipedia