Headquartered in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, the 65th Group Army (GA) was formed in 1985 on the basis of the 65th Corps. During the Cold War-era, the 65th Corps, equipped with large quantities of heavy artillery guns, was deployed near the northern border along with other PLA and militia units to form the first line of defence against a possible invasion by the Soviet forces from Mongolia.
Resulted by the changing security situation in China since the end of the Cold War, the 65th GA saw some significant reduction in its force strength. In 1998, two of its motorised infantry divisions (194th and 207th) were downsized to brigades.
During the PLA’s 2003 force reduction and restructuring programme, the 65th GA saw its Armoured Brigade, 194th Motorised Infantry Brigade, and 207th Motorised Infantry Brigade all being disbanded. At the same time, the 196th Motorised Infantry Brigade and 7th Armoured Brigade were reassigned to the 65th GA.
Currently the 65th GA is composed of the 193rd Motorised Infantry Division, 196th Motorised Infantry Brigade, 7th Armoured Brigade, 14th Artillery Division, an AAA brigade, and an engineer regiment.
Compared to the other two group armies in the same military region, the 65th GA is less mobile and its weapon equipment are mostly obsolete. The group army’s level of readiness and training is low, requiring weeks or even months of train-up and reserve augmentation to mobilise.
