3. People’s Armed Police
People’s Armed Police (PAP) is a paramilitary force under command of CCP with an estimated strength of 8-10 lakh personnel. It is the largest internal security force in the world. It has multiple roles which include guarding important installations, counter-terrorism and internal security. Chinese Coast Guard was also merged with PAP making guarding of Chinese coasts another responsibility of the organisation. It can also be used as light infantry to support regular PLA ground forces.
 Flag |  Arm Patch |  Cap Badge |
Earlier it had a dual command structure with CMC and provincial governments having joint control over the deployment of its troops.After reorganisation, CMC now has sole control over PAP and provincial governments will have to submit requests for deployment through PAP.
Structure
PAP consists of Internal Guard Force, Mobile Force, Coast Guards and training academies and research institutions. The new structure shown above came into existence in 2016. One of the major changes was the promotion of Discipline Inspection Commission to a first level organisation from its subordinate position to the Political Work Department. It was done to provide more powers to anti-corruption officers. The Equipment Department was elevated similarly to meet the specialised needs of PAP which were diverging from its older parent organisation, PLA.
Earlier PAP used to have 14 mobile divisions meant to perform internal security duties and had a secondary role of supporting PLA forces.They were renamed Mobile Detachments and some of them were allocated to provincial contingents which in theory could be utilised by local authorities for disaster relief and settling civil unrest.
PAP Special Operations Forces
PAP Special Operations Forces trace their origin to PLA’s Special Police Units in the 1980s. A unit codenamed Ministry of Public Security 772 Police Unit was raised in Beijing to handle any national level crisis like anti-hijacking, counter-terrorism, riot control and VIP protection. In 1983 this unit came under new PAP and became PAP Special Police Group and in 2002 became PAP Special Police College (Falcon Commando). Snow Wolf Commando Unit (SWCU) is the second PAP SOF unit. It was renamed Snow Leopard Commando Unit in 2008.
SWCU troops were sent to Iraq in 2004 to protect Chinese diplomats, making it the first deployment of Chinese troops in such a role
| UNITS | LOCATION | LAT | LONG |
| 1st Mobile Corps HQ^ | No. 777, Zhonghua North Street, Zhengding County, Shijiazhuang | 38° 8’9.82″N | 114°28’52.87″E |
| 1st Mobile Detachment | No. 230 Wang Lane, Dachi Road, Binhu District, Wuxi | 31°33’56.22″N | 120°14’52.70″E |
| 2nd Mobile Detachment | Yaowan Interchange, Wuxi City | 31°32’46.32″N | 120°10’15.61″E |
| 3rd Mobile Detachment | No. 1070, Chuanbu Village, Dingshu Town | 31°17’7.73″N | 119°48’15.29″E |
| Longtoushan, Jiangli Village, Dingshu Town, Yixing City | 31°16’48.95″N | 119°47’9.63″E | |
| 4th Mobile Detachment | No. 198, Xiazheng, Xianqiang Village, Longshan Street, Fuqing City, Fuzhou | 25°43’30.92″N | 119°27’25.14″E |
| 5th Mobile Detachment | Houzhuo Village, Xitianwei Town, Putian City, Fujian | ||
| 6th Mobile Detachment^ | No. 21, Yongjun Road, Xiuquan Street, Huadu District, Guangzhou | 23°23’57.96″N | 113° 9’19.49″E |
| 7th Mobile Detachment | Shangwan, Gaoming District, Foshan City, Guangdong | 22°59’29.67″N | 112°48’1.76″E |
| 8th Mobile Detachment | No. 2, Xingsheng Road, Mengzi City, Yunnan | 23°21’56.88″N | 103°23’30.14″E |
| 9th Mobile Detachment | No. 435, Yan’an Road, Shunqing District, Nanchong | ||
| 9th Mobile Detachment | No. 21, Yongjun Road, Jiutang, Xinhua Street, Huadu District, Guangzhou | ||
| 9th Mobile Detachment^ | Fengjiaqiao Village, Jialing District, Nanchong City, Sichuan | 30°46’2.41″N | 106° 1’1.88″E |
| Engineering & Chemical Defence | Changle Sports Center, Dongtou Village, Yingqian Street, Changle | 25°56’54.93″N | 119°27’24.90″E |
| 2nd Detachment, Special Forces | No.318, Huangzhishan Village, Yangjiabu Town, Wuxing District, Huzhou | ||
| 1st Traffic Detachment | Huainan North Road and Hexianghu Road, Shuangdun Town, Hefei | 32° 0’11.54″N | 117°17’31.95″E |
| 2nd Traffic Detachment | Wujia Town, Fucheng District, Mianyang City, Sichuan | 31°23’17.19″N | 104°42’34.52″E |
| 2nd Traffic Detachment^ | No. 1, Sangdeng Middle Road, Zhamu Town, Bomi County, Nyingchi City, Tibet | 29°51’23.67″N | 95°45’42.78″E |
| UNITS | LOCATION | LAT | LONG |
| Second Mobile Corps^ | No. 198, Dongtou Village, Yingqian Street, Changle District, Fuzhou | 25°56’44.76″N | 119°27’26.72″E |
| 1st Mobile Detachment | Xudong, Wangjia Town, Dawa District, Panjin City, Liaoning | 40°58’25.61″N | 122° 3’14.63″E |
| 1st Mobile Detachment-1^ | Zhujiang Street, Dawa District, Panjin City, Liaoning | ||
| 2nd Mobile Detachment | Yangqian Village, Yaoqianhu Town, Sujiatun District, Shenyang | 41°34’3.00″N | 123°38’49.41″E |
| 3rd Mobile Detachment | Shuangpaozi, Liaohe Town, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia | 43°42’59.69″N | 122°12’52.50″E |
| 4th Mobile Detachment^ | 1118, Jingu Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin | 39° 1’6.26″N | 117°21’41.10″E |
| 5th Mobile Detachment | No. 105, Dingzhou Paper Mill Community (Qingshuihe New Village, Dingzhou City, Baoding City, Hebei | 38°32’57.96″N | 115° 0’6.14″E |
| 6th Mobile Detachment | No. 666, Zhouzhuang Village, Zhaozhuang Township, Wangdu County, Baoding City, Hebei | 38°44’18.40″N | 115°10’14.66″E |
| 7th Mobile Detachment | Yangjiazhuang Village, Taigu County, Jinzhong City, Shanxi | 37°25’4.26″N | 112°35’17.56″E |
| 8th Mobile Detachment | No. 100 Zijing South Road, Gongyi City, Henan | ||
| 9th Mobile Detachment | No. 94, Xilan East Road, Kongtong District, Pingliang City, Gansu Province | 35°28’35.11″N | 106°51’16.14″E |
| 1st Detachment, Special Forces | No. 2 Zhengqian Road, Anding Town, Daxing | 39°37’57.88″N | 116°30’23.34″E |
| 2nd Detachment, Special Forces | No. 122, Yangliuqing Liukou Road, Xiqing District, Tianjin | 39° 7’29.91″N | 117° 0’54.85″E |
| 3rd Detachment, Special Forces^ | No. 789, Zhonghua North Street, Zhengding County, Shijiazhuang City | 38° 8’19.01″N | 114°29’30.42″E |
| 1st Traffic Detachment^ | No. 25, Linjing North Road, Kangzhuang Town, Yanqing District, Beijing | 40°22’25.48″N | 115°52’49.65″E |
| 2nd Traffic Detachment^ | Chang’an Avenue, Chang’an District, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province | 34°12’30.02″N | 108°56’44.40″E |
| Engineering & Chemical Defence^ | No. 12, Waihuan North Road, Xingcheng | 40°38’25.21″N | 120°43’13.74″E |
| Yancheng Border Defense Detachment^ | Jiangsu, Yancheng, Tinghu District, Nanyang Rd, 62 | 33°23’45.24″N | 120° 9’20.66″E |
| CORPS | UNIT | EQUIPMENT | SERIAL | LOCATION | LAT | LONG |
| 1st | Helicopter detachment Ningxia | Z-8WJS, Z-9WJS | WJ52880x, WJ52890x | Ningxia | 38°24’9.51″N | 106°12’23.11″E |
| 1st | Helicopter detachment Shanxi | Z-8WJS, Z-8GWJ, Z-8NWJ,Z-9F, Z-9WJ, Z-20WJ | WJ518xx, WJ519xx, WJ512xx | Wujing Taiyuan Jichang | 37°29’30.41″N | 112°43’15.10″E |
| 1st | Helicopter detachment Xinjiang | Mi-171E, Z-8WJS, Z-8NWJ | WJ517xx,WJ518xx,WJ52730x | Shuimogou | 43°48’53.13″N | 87°41’12.50″E |
| 2nd | Helicopter Battalion Sichuan-Zhongjiang | Z-8NWJ,Z-8GWJ,Z-20WJ | WJ528xx, WJ522xx | Taiping, Zhongjiang County, Deyang City, Sichuan | 30°50’51.54″N | 104°40’50.25″E |
| 2nd | Helicopter Battalion Hunan | Z-8WJS, Z-9WJS, Z-8WJ, Z-9WJ | WJ51880x, WJ51890x, WJ528xx, WJ529xx | Zhangshu Town, Xiangyin County, Yueyang County, Hunan | 28°31’38.26″N | 112°49’46.67″E |
| 2nd | 1st Mobile Detachment | Xudong, Wangjia Town, Dawa District, Panjin City, Liaoning | 40°58’25.61″N | 122° 3’14.63″E | ||
| Shandong | Helicopter Detachment Shandong | Z-9WJ | WJ51490x | Xiaozhi Town, Pingyin County, Jinan City, Shandong | 36° 4’24.86″N | 116°28’40.34″E |