Founded in 1953, it is the largest general hospital under the auspices of the People's Liberation Army. Its mission includes assuring the health of PLA and China's leaders.

The PLA Postgraduate medical School, whose name was changed to "Medical school of Chinese PLA" in 2012, is one of the first institutions authorized by the Academic Degree Committee of the State Council to confer doctoral and master's degrees and a teaching hospital of Tsinghua University School of Medicine and Nankai University School of Medicine.