Ding Laihang (; born September 1957) is a general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) who served as Commander of People's Liberation Army Air Force from 2017 to 2021. Prior to that, he was commander of the Shenyang Military Region Air Force and then commander of the Northern Theater Command Air Force.

Biography

Ding was born in September 1957 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. He became regimental commander of Regiment 71 of

24th Fighter Aviation Division The 24th Fighter Aviation Division is a unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force. It is headquartered at Yangcun Air Base in the Beijing Military Region. The unit is equipped with J-8 fighters. PLA-AF fighter divisions generally con ...

while in his early 30s. From the position of division deputy commander he moved to command of a training base in the Beijing Military Region Air Force, a divisional unit. Like Ma Zhenjun, he emphasized combat-realistic "Red versus Blue" training. In 2001, he was swiftly promoted to chief of staff of the 8th Corps, deployed on the Taiwan Front, reaching the deputy corps level at the age of 44. When the 8th Corps was reorganized down to the

Fuzhou Forward Commanding Post Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...

in 2003, Ding was its founding head. In 2007 he was promoted to be president of PLA Air Force Command Academy. A year later he was transferred to the Chengdu Military Region Air Force as its chief of staff. Ding was one of the youngest senior officers among the seven PLAAF Military Regions (at the full corps rank). In August 2012, Ding was promoted to commander of the Shenyang Military Region Air Force, as well as Deputy Commander of the Shenyang MR. In February 2016, he was appointed the inaugural Air Force commander and deputy commander of the Northern Theater Command, which was newly established in Xi Jinping's military reform. In August 2017, he was promoted to commander of the PLA Air Force, succeeding General

Ma Xiaotian Ma Xiaotian (; born August 1949) is a general who served as Commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) from 2012 to 2017. He also served as Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff and President of the PLA National Defence Universi ...

. Ding attained the rank of major general in July 2003, and lieutenant general ('' zhong jiang'') in July 2013. He was a member of the

11th National People's Congress The 11th National People's Congress () 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 11t ...

. In October 2017, he was elected as a member of the

19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

. On 31 July 2019 he was promoted to General.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ding, Laihang 1957 births Living people People's Liberation Army generals from Zhejiang Commanders of the People's Liberation Army Air Force People from Hangzhou Delegates to the 11th National People's Congress Members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party