Generals named to key military positions

Two generals were appointed vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China on Sunday.

The appointments of Fan Changlong and Xu Qiliang are the latest move to add new blood to the military leadership, analysts said.

The decision was announced after the Seventh Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee.

Fan, 65, was commander and deputy Party chief of the Jinan Military Command. Xu, 62, was a member of the Central Military Commission.

Xu was commander of the Air Force of the People's Liberation Army until Ma Xiaotian was recently named to the post after holding the post of deputy chief of the general staff of the PLA.

Vice-President Xi Jinping, and two generals — Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou — are also vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission of the CPC, which was chaired by President Hu Jintao.

The appointments came after a reshuffle at four key PLA departments — general staff, general political, general logistics and general armaments — last month.

Born in Dandong, Liaoning province, in May 1947, Fan joined the army and became a soldier at an artillery regiment in 1969 in the Shenyang Military Command. He became the commander of the regiment in 1982. He was appointed the chief of staff of Shenyang Military Command in 2000 and commander of Jinan Military Command in 2004.

Born in March 1950 in Linqu, Shandong province, Xu joined the PLA in July 1966. He graduated from a PLA aviation school and became a pilot in 1969. He became the commander of his Air Force division in 1983 and chief of staff of the PLA Air Force in 1994.

"Both generals have rich experience working in different levels of the PLA and the experience will definitely give them expertise in their new positions," said Li Qinggong, deputy secretary-general of the national security policy commission of the China Association of Policy and Science.