On July 3, China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) held a ceremony for promotion to the rank of general at the Bayi Building in Beijing.

The two officers promoted to the rank of general were Zhang Shuguang, Secretary of the CMC Discipline Inspection Commission and Director of the CMC Commission of Supervision, and Wang Gang, Commander of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force.

Zhang Shuguang is 62 years old and a member of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China. He has now assumed the posts of Secretary of the CMC Discipline Inspection Commission and Director of the CMC Commission of Supervision, succeeding Zhang Shengmin, currently Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission. The CMC Discipline Inspection Commission and the CMC Commission of Supervision are effectively one organization operating under two titles. Zhang Shuguang and Zhang Shengmin are said to have had ties for some time. When Zhang Shengmin served as Secretary of the CMC Discipline Inspection Commission in 2017, Zhang Shuguang was Director of the Supervision Bureau of the CMC Discipline Inspection Commission, and the two are said to have had long-standing points of contact within the military.

Wang Gang, by contrast, is a former fighter pilot and an operations-line officer. The background to Wang Gang, previously Deputy Commander of the Air Force, being promoted to the rank of general and appointed Commander of the Air Force appears to be that his predecessor, former Air Force Commander Chang Dingqiu, and Air Force Political Commissar Guo Puxiao have not appeared in public for more than six months, with Wang Gang having effectively assumed the duties of Air Force Commander. Rumors concerning Chang Dingqiu’s death have also circulated, while Guo Puxiao was stripped of his seat at the National People’s Congress on June 26, 2026.

This was the first ceremony for promotion to the rank of general held in 2026. The previous ceremony was held on December 22, 2025. In 2025, only one such ceremony was held, in December. On that occasion, the two officers promoted to the rank of general were the Commander of the Eastern Theater Command, whose area of responsibility includes the East China Sea and waters around Taiwan, and the Commander of the Central Theater Command, which is responsible for the defense of the capital. Both were Air Force officers, a service said to have the lowest level of corruption among the branches of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

As outlined above, promotions to the rank of general in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army remain extremely limited. The fact that the officers promoted on this occasion were a discipline-inspection officer and an Air Force officer suggests that the highest priorities currently being demanded of the PLA by the CPC Central Committee, or by Xi Jinping himself, are the maintenance of discipline and loyalty to Xi.

DEEP DIVE Breaking News 047: China’s Central Military Commission Holds Ceremony for Promotion to the Rank of General