Fang Fenghui (born April 1951) is a former top general in the Chinese

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

(PLA). He served as the Chief of

Joint Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense, ...

and a member of the

Central Military Commission Central Military Commission may refer to: *Central Military Commission (China), the highest national defense organization in the People's Republic of China. *Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the highest body in Vietnam ...

. He was placed under investigation for corruption in 2017 and subsequently convicted.

Biography

Fang was born Ma Xianyang () in Chidao Township, Xunyi County,

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi is a province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to the west. Shaanxi ...

. His father Ma Guoxuan () was a military and government officer who died in 1960. After his mother Fang Linjiang () remarried in Bin County, he renamed himself Fang Fenghui using his mother's surname. Fang joined the PLA in February 1968, at the height of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. He served in

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

in his early career. He later served as commander of the

Beijing Military Region The Beijing Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. From the mid-1980s to 2017, it had administration of all military affairs within Beijing city, Tianjin city, Hebei province, Shanxi province, ...

(2007–2012). and commander of

Guangzhou Military Region The Guangzhou Military Region was from 1955 to 2016 one of the People's Liberation Army PLA Military Regions, located in the south of the People's Republic of China. In May 1949, the Central China (Hua Zhong) Military Region (MR) was formed. In M ...

(2003–2007). Fang achieved the rank of Major general in 1998,

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

in July 2005 and

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in July 2010. He was appointed as the Chief of

on October 25, 2012, succeeding Chen Bingde; when the Joint Staff department was re-organized in 2016 as a new organ under the Central Military Commission, Fang continued his role as chief of the joint staff. During the

60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China The 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China took place on 1 October 2009. A military parade involving 10,000 troops and the display of many high-tech weapons was held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and various celebra ...

, Fang served as the commanding officer of the military contingent during the inspection parade of then Central Military Commission chairman

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the president of China from 2003 to 2013, and chairman of the Central Military Comm ...

. In August 2017, Fang was placed under investigation for corruption. He was sent to military procuratorial organs in January 2018. He was expelled from the Communist Party on October 16, 2018. On February 20, 2019, Fang was sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery. Fang was a member of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fang, Fenghui 1951 births Living people People's Liberation Army generals from Shaanxi People from Xunyi County PLA National Defence University alumni Commanders of the Beijing Military Region People expelled from the Chinese Communist Party in 2018 People's Liberation Army generals convicted of corruption Delegates to the 11th National People's Congress Members of the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the People's Republic of China Purged Chinese military officers