The Central Military Commission, Theater Commands, and Services
Addressing a CMC meeting on reform on November 24, 2015, Xi Jinping presented a general principle guiding the reform of the leadership and command system, affirming the CMC's overarching leadership role, the TCs' responsibility for military operations and the services' focus on developing capabilities.
The CMC's overall leadership ensures the CMC's unified command and leadership of the military, its strategic management and command, and the effective implementation of the CMC chairperson responsibility system. The CMC functional organs are responsible for providing advice, executing decisions, or providing other services to assist the CMC's overall planning, macro-level guidance, and oversight.
Theater commands are responsible for commanding joint operations across their areas of responsibility (AORs). There are now five TCs after the reorganization, each with its own joint operations command structure, which incorporates the command functions previously performed by the services.
Services are responsible for capability development and management of the troops under their respective command. The reform process involves improving the management structure of the services by transferring the capability development and management functions from the former MACs to the services.
军委管总、战区主战、军种主建
2015年11月24日，习近平在中央军委改革工作会议上发表重要讲话，明确军委管总、战区主战、军种主建，是领导指挥体制改革的总原则。
军委管总，就是强化军委统一领导指挥全军的职能，完善军委战略管理和战略指挥功能，确保军委主席负责制有效落实。军委机关实行多部门制，作为军委的参谋机关、执行机关和服务机关，保障军委搞好顶层谋划、宏观指导、监察督导。
战区主战，就是战区作为联合作战指挥活动的重心和战略方向指挥的责任主体。重新划设5个战区，成立战区联合作战指挥机构，将军种有关指挥职能融入战区。
军种主建，就是军种作为建设管理活动的重心和本军种部队建设的责任主体。完善军种领导管理机构，将原军区有关建设管理职能交给军种。