People's Liberation Army Navy Coastal Defense Force

The People's Liberation Army Navy Coastal Defense Force is one of five branches of the People's Liberation Army Navy. It is a land-based fighting force with a strength of around 25,000 personnel. Also sometimes known as the coastal defense troops, they serve to defend China's coastal areas from invasion via amphibious landings or air-attack. Throughout the 1960s to 1980s, the Coastal Defense Force was focused on defending China's coast from a possible Soviet sea-borne invasion. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the threat of an amphibious invasion of China has diminished and therefore the branch is often considered to no-longer be a vital component of the PLAN. Especially as the surface warships of the PLAN continue to improve in terms of anti-ship and air-defence capabilities.

Today the primary weapons of the coastal defense troops are the HY-2, YJ-82, and C-602 anti-ship missiles.