What’s new: Liu Zhenli has taken over as the new chief of a Chinese military command body similar to the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, state media reported.
Liu attended a meeting Monday as head of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, according to a story published the next day in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese military.
Liu, 58, was appointed to the Central Military Commission (CMC) in October 2022 following the 20th national party congress, when former Joint Staff Department chief Li Zuocheng was no longer a member of the commission.
The CMC is China’s highest military authority chaired by President Xi Jinping. The Joint Staff Department chief is its fifth-ranking member.
Liu and Li both served as PLA Ground Force commanders in the Sino-Vietnamese war of the late 1970s and 1980s before becoming heads of the Joint Staff department.
The background: A native of Shijiazhuang in China’s northern province of Hebei, Liu joined the army in 1983, and was long stationed around Beijing. He has a master’s degree in military affairs from the National Defense University.
He participated in China’s war with Vietnam in 1986 and 1987.
Liu was promoted to the highest military rank of general in July 2021, reportedly becoming the youngest ever to reach the rank at age 56.
Contact reporter Kelly Wang (jingzhewang@caixin.com) and editor Leila Hashemi (leilahashemi@caixin.com)
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