7 Chinese military officers promoted to rank of general

Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), together with other senior military officials, poses for a group photo with seven Chinese military officers who have been promoted to the rank of general at a ceremony in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 12, 2019. Seven Chinese military officers have been promoted to the rank of general, the highest rank for officers in active service in China. Xi presented the officers with certificates of order at a ceremony the CMC held in Beijing on Thursday. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Seven Chinese military officers have been promoted to the rank of general, the highest rank for officers in active service in China.

Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), presented the officers with certificates of order at a ceremony held by the CMC in Beijing on Thursday.

The promoted officers are Commander of the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) He Weidong, Political Commissar of the PLA's Eastern Theater Command He Ping, Political Commissar of the PLA's Southern Theater Command Wang Jianwu, Commander of the PLA's Northern Theater Command Li Qiaoming, Commander of the PLA Rocket Force Zhou Yaning, Commander of the PLA Strategic Support Force Li Fengbiao, and head of the PLA's Academy of Military Sciences Yang Xuejun.

Xu Qiliang, CMC vice chairman, announced the orders of promotion at the ceremony, which was presided over by his fellow CMC vice chairman Zhang Youxia.