Xu Qiling

General officer of the People's Liberation Army
徐起零
Xu at a 2019 Military Exchange
Vice chief of the CMC Joint Staff Department
Incumbent
Assumed office
August 2021Commander of the Western Theater CommandIn office
June 2021 – August 2021Preceded byZhang XudongSucceeded byWang HaijiangCommander of the Western Theater Command Ground ForceIn office
April 2020 – June 2021Preceded byHe WeidongSucceeded byTBACommander of the Eastern Theater Command Ground ForceIn office
December 2018 – April 2020Preceded byQin WeijiangSucceeded byLin XiangyangCommander of the 79th Group ArmyIn office
March 2017 – December 2018Preceded byNew titleSucceeded byHuo Jiangang Personal detailsBornJuly 1962 (age 61)
Huaiyang District, Zhoukou, Henan, ChinaPolitical partyChinese Communist PartyMilitary serviceAllegiance People's Republic of ChinaBranch/service People's Liberation Army Ground ForceRank General

Xu Qiling (Chinese: 徐起零; pinyin: Xú Qǐlíng; born July 1962) is a general (Shangjiang) of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). He was the commander of the Western Theater Command. He formerly served as commander of the Western Theater Command Ground Force, commander of the Eastern Theater Command Ground Force, and commander of the 79th Group Army.

Biography

Born in Huaiyang District, Zhoukou, Henan in July 1962, Xu served in Jinan Military Region before serving as the chief of staff for the 54th Group Army. He served as deputy commander of the Central Theater Command in 2016 and held that office until March 2017, when he was appointed commander of the 79th Group Army.[1][2] He rose in rank to become commander of the Eastern Theater Command Ground Force in December 2018, replacing Qin Weijiang.[3] In April 2020, Xu was transferred to the Western Theater Command and appointed commander of its ground force.

Xu was awarded the rank of lieutenant general by the Central Military Commission Chairman Xi Jinping on 11 December 2019 and later to the rank of general on 5 July 2021.[4][5]

In June 2021, Xu was chosen to replace Zhang Xudong as commander of the Western Theater Command after Zhang left the post suffering from cancer and gastrointestinal problems. Zhang died four months later in October. After only two months serving as commander, Xu also stepped down reportedly also out of poor health and amid a number of illnesses among both commanders and troops. Xu was transferred to the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission (CMC) to serve as vice chief.[6]

Xu was a delegate to the 13th National People's Congress.

References

  1. ^ Wang Jun (王俊) (27 July 2016). 陆军第54集团军原参谋长徐起零少将任中部战区陆军副司令员. thepaper (in Chinese). Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  2. ^ 多个集团军主官亮相 张孟滨任82军政委. caixin.com (in Chinese). 2 August 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  3. ^ Yan Hongliang (闫宏亮) (3 January 2019). 接棒秦卫江 徐起零出任东部战区陆军司令. sina (in Chinese). Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  4. ^ Song Guoqing (宋国庆); Li Xiaojing (李晓婧) (11 December 2019). 刘发庆、黄铭等6名陆军军官晋升中将军衔. Beijing News (in Chinese). Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  5. ^ Jia Nan (贾楠) (5 July 2021). 4人晋升上将！. Sina (in Chinese). Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Former head of China's Western Theatre Command dies aged 58". South China Morning Post. 2021-10-06. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
Military offices
Preceded by
Position established
 Commander of the 79th Group Army
2017–2018 		Succeeded by
Huo Jiangang (霍建刚)
Preceded by Commander of the Eastern Theater Command Ground Force
2018–2020 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander of the Western Theater Command Ground Force
2020–2020 		Succeeded by
TBA
Preceded by Commander of the Western Theater Command
2021–present 		Succeeded by