In January 1949, the detachment was renamed to the 187th Division (Chinese: 第187师) [1] basing on the 7th Brigade, 3rd Column of the Jinchaji Military Region.
Under the flag of 188th division it took part in several major battles in the Chinese Civil War.
In February 1951 the division entered Korea with the Corps HQ as a part of People's Volunteer Army.
In December 1966, following the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution, the division moved to Beijing and stationed in Xicheng district for security mission.
On August 24, 1969, soon after the Tielieketi incident, the division moved to Jining, Inner Mongolia for emergency alert deployment.
The division was deployed to provide security during the 2008 Tibetan unrest and July 2009 Ürümqi riots[10] After the 2017 reform, the division was reduced to a detachment (regiment-sized): the 7th Mobile Detachment (Chinese: 机动第7支队) under the PAP 1st Mobile Corps (Chinese: 武警第1机动总队).