71 years ago today, on December 12, 1954 (November 18, 1954 in the lunar calendar), the Central Military Commission held an expanded meeting to divide military regions. On December 12, 1954, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China held an expanded meeting. The meeting discussed the implementation of the compulsory military service system, the military rank system, the officer salary system, the division of major military regions across the country, the military training of troops and the training of cadres, and passed the political work report on the implementation of the above three systems and the division plan of major military regions across the country. The original six major military regions in Northeast China, North China, Northwest China, East China, Central South China, and Southwest were divided into 12 major military regions, including Shenyang, Beijing, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Kunming, Lanzhou, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Xizang. (Fuzhou Military Region was added in 1956. In May 1967 and December 1969, the Inner Mongolia Military Region and the Xizang Military Region were successively changed to provincial military regions, under the leadership of the Beijing Military Region and the Chengdu Military Region, respectively.