Xu Anxiang (; born April 1956) is a lieutenant general (''

zhong jiang (; ja, 将, Shō; ) is the rank held by general officers in some East Asian militaries. The ranks are used in both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan. The People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police use ...

'') of the Chinese

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...

(PLAAF). He has served as commander of the

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 Mar ...

Air Force and deputy commander of the Guangzhou MR since 2013.

Career

Xu Anxiang was born in April 1956 in

Changzhou Changzhou ( Changzhounese: ''Zaon Tsei'', ) is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provin ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

Province. In 2002 Xu was commander of the 14th Fighter Division, a unit on constant combat duty in the Nanjing War Zone. In 2007 he was frontline commander for PLAAF fighters deployed to the Sino-Russian joint military exercise Peace Mission 2007. It was a notable appointment as the PLAAF top leadership always selects the most competent commanders to command transnational military missions. This was the first time that PLAAF aircraft had entered a foreign country for combat drills. Xu directed 24 sorties of eight Chinese J-7s and Il-76s within a short period of time. His division achieved its tactical objectives, even though in a strange location, against unfamiliar targets, and under uncertain circumstances. In 2008, Xu was deputy chief of the staff of the

Nanjing Military Region The Nanjing Military Region () was one of the former seven military command regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Its jurisdiction covers all military and armed police located in Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Shanghai ...

Air Force when the Great Sichuan earthquake occurred. He was put in charge of the Nanjing MR air force units in the search and rescue operation. He personally oversaw preparation of aircraft in the Special Rescue Regiment that received emergency mobilization orders at 10:30 p.m. on the night of the earthquake, departing 3 hours later with all necessary materials. He was later promoted to chief of staff of the Nanjing MRAF. He was promoted to commander of the

Air Force and concurrently deputy commander of the Guangzhou MR in 2013, replacing

Zhang Jianping Zhang Jianping (; born April 1956) is a lieutenant general (''zhong jiang'') of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) of China. He has been deputy commander of the PLAAF since 2013, and previously served as commander of the Jinan Militar ...

, who had become deputy commander of the PLAAF. Xu was elevated to the rank of lieutenant general on 16 July 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xu, Anxiang Living people People's Liberation Army Air Force generals 1956 births People's Liberation Army generals from Jiangsu People from Changzhou Members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party