The chairman of the Central Military Commission is the head of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the People's Armed Police (PAP) and the Militia.

[1] The officeholder is usually the CCP general secretary; this grants significant political power as the only member of the Politburo Standing Committee with direct responsibilities for the armed forces.

According to the Constitution, the state CMC chairman is responsible to the National People's Congress (NPC) and its Standing Committee.

[4] The following have held the position of chair of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party: The following have held the position of chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China: Saunders, Phillip C.; Ding, Arthur S.; Scobell, Andrew; Yang, Andrew N.D.; Joel, Wuthnow, eds.

Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms.