Yang Guohai (; born May 1950) is a retired lieutenant general (''

zhong jiang Jiang ( formerly romanized chiang and usually translated general) is a general officer rank used by China and Taiwan. It is also used as jang in North and South Korea, shō in Japan, and tướng in Vietnam. Chinese People's Liberation Army T ...

'') of China's

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

(PLAAF), who served as

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the PLAAF from 2007 to 2013.

Biography

Yang Guohai was born in May 1950 in

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

. He became commander of the PLAAF 4th Fighter Division in his late 30s, and commander of the Shanghai air base in 1998. He was an associate of

Xu Qiliang Xu Qiliang ( zh , s = 许其亮 , p = Xǔ Qíliàng ; 29 March 1950 – 2 June 2025) was a Chinese air force general in the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). He served as a Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Chine ...

in Shanghai, who later rose to become Commander of the PLAAF. Yang was appointed chief of staff of the

Lanzhou Military Region The Lanzhou Military Region was one of seven military regions in the People's Republic of China. It directed all People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police forces in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Ngari Prefecture in no ...

Air Force in 2000, and stayed in the post for six years, which delayed his career advancement. But after he was appointed to deputy chief of staff of the Air Force in 2006, he held that post for hardly a year before being promoted to chief of staff. His deputy period was considered transitional, waiting for the incumbent chief of staff Zhao Zhongxin to vacate the position. Yang attained the rank of major general in July 1996, and lieutenant general in July 2009. He was a member of the

11th National People's Congress The 11th National People's Congress (NPC) met for a 5-year term, from 2008 to 2013. It held five annual two week plenary sessions during this period. It succeeded the 10th National People's Congress. There were 2,987 deputies elected to the ...

. He retired in July 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Guohai 1950 births Living people People's Liberation Army generals from Tianjin People's Liberation Army Air Force generals Delegates to the 11th National People's Congress