China appoints new military top brass in overhaul aimed at boosting professionalism

China has appointed three new commanders to head the land forces of the People’s Liberation Army and the new Rocket Force and Strategic Support Force, as part of the military overhaul to promote talented officers.

Among the three top leaders is General Li Zuocheng , a decorated hero of the Sino-Vietnamese war and leader of disaster relief campaigns. He is the commander of the newly established army general command.

Li, 62, led the Chengdu military region that covered Guizhou (貴州), Sichuan (四川), Tibet (西藏) and Yunnan (雲南).

Meanwhile, two other officers, Gao Jin and Wei Fenghe, were appointed as the commander for the Strategic Support Force and the Rocket Force, formerly the Second Artillery Corps that commanded strategic missiles.

Li is a native of Hunan (湖南) province, the “cradle of Chinese soliders”, and joined the PLA in 1970, aged 17. He was decorated for leading a PLA company in Guangxi (廣西) province to victory in a month-long battle during the Sino-Vietnamese war in 1979. Li, then the company commander, suffered severe injuries to his right arm and hand in the conflict, for which he was officially honoured as a “combat hero”.

In the following two decades, Li was promoted to army commander. In 1998, he led his force from the front line in disaster relief operations following catastrophic floods on the Yangtze River.