Chang Wanquan (; born January 1949) is the former Minister of Defense and State Councilor of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and a general in the People's Liberation Army. He has been a member of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China and helped to manage China's space program.

Life and career

Born in

Nanyang Nanyang is the romanization of two common Chinese place names. It may refer to: Written as 南洋 (Southern Ocean) * Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea ;China * Nanyang Fleet, Qing ...

Henan Province Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

, in 1949, Chang joined the PLA in March 1968 and 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 Civil ...

(CCP) in November of the same year. From January 2002 to December 2004, he was the chief of staff and a CCP committee member of the Lanzhou Military Region. From December 2004 to September 2007, he was the commander of the

Shenyang Military Region The Shenyang Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It has command and control of military and armed police forces in the three northeast provinces of Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning, whi ...

. He was also director of the

PLA General Armaments Department People's Liberation Army General Armaments Department (GAD; ) was founded in April 1998 and is in charge of equipping and arming the People's Liberation Army, as well as overseeing and improving military technology. It is one of the four "general d ...

. In October 2007 he was elected as a member of the Central Military Commission. He attained the rank of senior colonel in 1992,

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

in July 1997,

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) 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 ...

in 2003, and full general in October 2007. He has been a member of the

16th 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and . In English speech, ...

, 17th and 18th Central Committees. In October 2012, he was appointed

Minister of National Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

, succeeding General

Liang Guanglie Liang Guanglie (, also spelled as Liang Kuang-lieh; born December 1940 in Santai, Mianyang, Sichuan) is a retired general and former Minister for National Defense in the People's Republic of China. Life and career Liang joined the army in ...

. At the first plenary session of the

12th National People's Congress The 12th National People's Congress was elected in national congressional conferences from October 2012 to February 2013 and was in session from 2013 to 2018. It succeeded the 11th National People's Congress. It held five plenary sessions in t ...

, he was also appointed as

State Councilor A state councillor () is a high-ranking position within the State Council, the executive organ of the Chinese government (comparable to a cabinet). It ranks immediately below the Vice-Premiers and above the ministers of various departments. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Wanquan 1949 births Living people People's Liberation Army generals from Henan People from Nanyang, Henan Ministers of National Defense of the People's Republic of China State councillors of China