The 1st Division was created on February 1949 under the Regulation of the Redesignations of All Organizations and Units of the Army, issued by Central Military Commission on November 1, 1948, basing on the 386th Brigade, 1st Column of the PLA Northwest Field Army. Its history can be traced to the 2nd Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, formed in July 1930. The division is part of 1st Corps. Under the flag of 1st division it took part in the Chinese Civil War. In 1952 it absorbed the 3rd Division from the same Corps. By then the division was composed of:
In February 1953 the division entered Korea to took part in Korean War under the command of the Corps. Since then it became a part of the People's Volunteer Army until 1958. In 1955 it renamed as the 1st Infantry Division. In 1958 it moved to Kaifeng, Henan province with the Corps HQ. In 1960 it renamed as the 1st Army Division. In January 1961 it became one of the first ten combat alert divisions of the army, which made it a "big" division under PLA glossaries, as a fully manned and equipped division. In 1962 the division was designated as a "Northern" unit, Catalogue A. the division was shortly moved to Fujian province for an emergency alert deployment with the Corps HQ. In 1968 the 206th Tank Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment was detached from the division and formed the later 41st Tank Regiment of the 11th Tank Division. The division was basically not affected during the army re-designation in December 1969. Its 301st Artillery Regiment was renamed as Artillery Regiment, 1st Army Division. In the 1970s the division then maintained as an Army Division, Catalogue A unit. In 1975 the division moved to Zhejiang Province with the Corps HQ to replace 20th Army Corps. Since then the division is stationed in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. In 1984 the division took part in the battle of Laoshan with the Corps HQ. In 1985 the division was converted to a motorized division, renamed as the 1st Infantry Division. The division then maintained as a Northern Motorized Infantry Division, Catalogue A unit. The Tank Regiment of 1st Army Corps attached to the division, and its Anti-Air Artillery Battalion expanded to a regiment. By then the division was composed of:
Between 1998 and 2000 the division was further converted to an amphibious mechanized division, renamed as the 1st Amphibious Mechinized Infantry Division. In April 2017 the division was divided into two combined arms brigades: the 1st Amphibious Combined Arms Brigade and the 5th Amphibious Combined Arms Brigade. The 1st was transferred to the 74th Group Army, while the 5th was still under the 1st Group Army, which currently known as the 72nd Group Army.
