China is one of the few countries in the world that still has artillery divisions, with Russia and North Korea being the other two countries that primarily retain such formations.

Artillery divisions were first formed during World War I. As a more effective way of using artillery than spreading it out, artillery divisions were capable of concentrating hundreds of guns in support of a major offensive operation, organizing an extremely powerful suppression of fire that overwhelmed the enemy. Only Russia (USSR) continued this artillery division formation until World War II and throughout the Cold War thereafter, when it was introduced by other socialist countries. At present, China still has six artillery divisions, but new elements have been introduced.

The main reason the Chinese artillery divisions exist is to keep the special guns together. The artillery divisions can oversee the training and maintenance of cannons, rockets and missile unit equipment and manage large quantities of ammunition. In wartime, artillery divisions would systematically rationalize the distribution of their weapons to those units that are in need of these special artillery pieces. In contrast, in the West, the largest unit of artillery units is the brigade and the smallest is the battalion.

Stationed near the coast near the Taiwan Strait, China's 1st Artillery Division, the best-equipped unit in the Chinese Army and one that is always ready for combat, has five regiments armed with 152-millimeter howitzers, 130-millimeter cannons, 100-millimeter assault cannons and 300-millimeter rockets, as well as anti-tank missiles. The 152-mm howitzers are capable of firing "copies" of the Russian-designed "Red Earth" laser-guided shells. The artillery division also has units specialized in detecting the location of enemy artillery, using special radars and computers, as well as other computers to orchestrate and employ different types of artillery and rockets in precision strikes against the enemy.

The 25th Regiment of Artillery of the 1st Artillery Division, based in Qujiang, Shaoguan, is codenamed Unit 75231. It is subordinate to the 42nd Group Army and belongs to the field force.