[1] Assigned to the nation's Eastern Theater Command, the primary mission of the 71st Group Army is likely preparation for conflict in or about the Taiwan Strait.

The 12th Army's most notable contribution to the war was the 1952 Operation Showdown, known in Chinese as the Shangganling Campaign.

Despite constant barrages of artillery fire and bombings, the 12th Corps, temporarily placed under command of the PVA 15th Corps, held Sniper Ridge against Republic of Korea forces and those of the United States Army's 7th Infantry Division.

[10] Later, in May 1989, the 12th Army's 34th, 36th and 110th Divisions, Artillery Brigade, and Anti-Aircraft Battalion were deployed to Beijing to enforce martial law and suppress the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

[12][13][14] The group army's political commissar was Major General Xu Deqing from March 2017 to May 2018 when Yin Hongxing succeeded him.