Former vice-chairman of Central Military Commission dies

General Xu Qiliang, a former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, died on Monday in Beijing. He was 75.

Xu, a native of Shandong province, was born in March 1950 and joined the People's Liberation Army Air Force in July 1966. He was admitted to a flight school to study flying combat planes.

After graduating in 1969, he was assigned to a fighter jet division and moved up through the ranks there.

In 1983, he was named commander of the division. Seven years later, he was appointed commander of an Air Force combined corps.

In 1994, Xu was promoted to the post of chief of staff of the Air Force.

In 1999, he was transferred to the former PLA Shenyang Regional Command to become the chief of the command's air force. He remained in that office until 2004 when he was named the PLA's deputy chief of staff.

In 2007, Xu was appointed as top commander of the Air Force and a member of the Central Military Commission, China's highest military authority.

In 2012, he became a member of the Political Bureau of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee and a vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission.

The general worked 10 years at the Central Military Commission as its vice-chairman and retired in late 2022.