[4][5] The CGR is formally subordinated to the PLA General Staff Department (GSD)[2] but political and operation control is exercised by the party through the Central Guard Bureau (CGB) of the General Office of the Central Committee (CGO);[3] CGB deputy directors concurrently hold leadership positions in the CGR.

The SPSB was created by absorbing existing organizations, taking over protection of senior CCP members and the secret police roles.

At the end of the Second World War, a third of the CGR was split off to create a protection unit for the CCP advance into Manchuria.

[12] In the following continuation of the Chinese Civil War, the CGR protected the Central Committee and PLA Headquarters.

[22] The PLA commanded the CGR for a few years while Wang attended the Central Party School and served as Jiangxi's deputy governor.

[23] Mao strengthened his control over security in preparation for the Cultural Revolution, which included placing Wang in greater positions of authority.

[24][note 2] On the eve of the Cultural Revolution, Mao directly controlled the CGB, and through it the CGR and BGC, which he used to arrest and spy on his opponents.

[26] Mao fostered the CGR's loyalty by providing social and economic assistance to its members and their families, and - before 1969 - personally meeting new recruits.

[30] Wang was the most powerful person in the party's security and intelligence organization[31] and retained control of the CGR and CGB;[30] he adhered to Mao's views[32] and allied with the moderates, allowing the moderates to control the party's elite security forces: the BGC, CGR and CGB.

[34] In addition, the Third Plenum reduced the influence of Wang and his supporters by separating the CGB and CGR from the CGO; this put party security forces solely under the control of the Deng-controlled PLA GSD.