Chen Bingde (; born July 1941) is a retired general ('' shangjiang'') in the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

(PLA). He was the Director-General of the General Armaments Department until September 2007. In this position he acted as the head of the space program of China. He then served as chief of the PLA General Staff Department. He retired in 2012, and was succeeded by General Fang Fenghui as chief of General Staff.

Biography

Chen was born July 1941 in

Nantong Nantong (; alternate names: Nan-t'ung, Nantung, Tongzhou, or Tungchow; Qihai dialect: ) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province, China. Located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, near the river mouth. Nantong is a vital ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its c ...

. He joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

(CCP) in 1962 and has been a member of the CCP Central Military Commission since 2004. He was former chief of the Nanjing Military Region, a crucial region in Beijing's military strategy against

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

. In 2004, he was promoted to the director of the General Armaments Department as well as the secretary of CCP's committee. In 2007 he was promoted to head of General Staff Department. He attained the rank of major general in September 1988, lieutenant general in July 1995, and general in 2002. He was a member of CCP's 15th, 16th and 17th central committees.

References

China Vitae
( AFP via the '' Straits Times'') 1941 births Living people People's Liberation Army generals from Jiangsu People from Nantong People's Liberation Army Chiefs of General Staff {{China-mil-bio-stub