The song's former name was March of the Eighth Route Army, and was one of the six songs in the Chorus of Eighth Route Army, all of which had Gong Mu as song writer and Zheng Lücheng as the composer. The song became known as the "March of the Liberation Army" during the second Chinese Civil War. The lyrics were re-edited by the General Political Department in 1951 and the song renamed to March of the Chinese PLA in 1965.
On July 25, 1988, the Central Military Commission decided to use the song as the official anthem of the People's Liberation Army.
