The 17th Corps was activated in February 1949 from 11th Column, Zhongyuan Field Army.

On August 26, 1968, 17th Army Corps(Chinese: 陆军第17军) was activated in Huayuanzhen, Xiaochang, Hubei province.

Army corps commander: Zhang Zhiyin(Chinese: 张治银), commissar - Zhang Zhaojian(Chinese: 张昭剑), who was the divisional commissar of 29th Army Division during the Wuhan Incident of the Cultural Revolution.

After the incident, the mutinous Independent Division of Hubei Provincial Military District was quickly disarmed and taken control by 15th Airborne Corps of the PLAAF and affiliated 29th Army Division that under great influence by Lin Biao.

The formation of 17th Army Corps was to "strain" the "rogue" independent divisions with "modest" 29th Army Division, and was a footstep forward by the PLAAF to further Lin's influence to the PLA ground force.