Liu Zhenli | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
刘振立 | |||||||
| Chief of Staff of theJoint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission | |||||||
| Assumed office September 2022 | |||||||
| Preceded by | Li Zuocheng | ||||||
| Commander of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force | |||||||
| In office June 2021 – September 2022 | |||||||
| Preceded by | Han Weiguo | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Li Qiaoming | ||||||
| Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force | |||||||
| In office December 2015 – June 2021 | |||||||
| Preceded by | Office established | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Huang Ming | ||||||
| Chief of Staff ofPeople's Armed Police | |||||||
| In office July 2015 – December 2015 | |||||||
| Preceded by | Niu Zhizhong | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Qin Tian | ||||||
| Personal details | |||||||
| Born | August 1964 (age 61) Luancheng County,Hebei, China | ||||||
| Party | Chinese Communist Party | ||||||
| Alma mater | PLA National Defence University | ||||||
| Military service | |||||||
| Allegiance |  People's Republic of China | ||||||
| Branch/service |  People's Liberation Army Ground Force | ||||||
| Years of service | 1983–present | ||||||
| Rank |  General | ||||||
| Battles/wars | Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991) | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 刘振立 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 劉振立 | ||||||
| |||||||
Liu Zhenli (Chinese:刘振立; born August 1964) is a former Chinesegeneral (Shangjiang) of thePeople's Liberation Army (PLA), who served as chief of staff of theJoint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission. He wascommander of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force from June 2021 to December 2022.
He is a member of the19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. He was a delegate to the12th National People's Congress.
Liu was born inLuancheng County,Hebei, in August 1964. He enlisted in thePeople's Liberation Army in September 1983 and joined theChinese Communist Party (CCP) in April 1984. He graduated from thePLA National Defence University.[citation needed] In 1986, he participated in theSino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991). In the war, he and his men successfully defended the line against repeatedPeople's Army of Vietnam assaults 36 times.[citation needed]
He was chief of staff of the65th Group Army in December 2009, commander of the army in February 2012, and commander of the38th Group Army in March 2014.[citation needed] He was transferred to thePeople's Armed Police in July 2015 and appointed chief of staff.[1][2] In December 2015, he became the first chief of staff of the newly reshuffledPeople's Liberation Army Ground Force.[3] In June 2021, he was made commander of the army.[4] In September 2022, he was commissioned as chief of staff of theJoint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission.[5][6][7]
He was promoted to the rank ofmajor general (Shaojiang) in December 2010,lieutenant general (Zhongjiang) in July 2016, andgeneral (Shangjiang) in July 2021.[8]
On 24 January 2026, theMinistry of National Defense announced that Liu and Central Military Commission Vice ChairmanZhang Youxia have been placed under investigation due to a decision by theCCP Central Committee over suspected "serious violations of discipline."[9][10] ThePeople's Liberation Army Daily published an editorial stating that Zhang and Liu had "severely trampled on and undermined theCMC Chairman responsibility system".[11]
TheJamestown Foundation published a detailed analysis of open-source publications and reports from theMinistry of National Defense,Xinhua,People's Daily, andPLA Daily. The report speculated that the charges against Zhang and Liu—likely stemming from the same underlying cause—were political accusations related to their open disagreement or defiance with theCMC Chairman responsibility system, having prioritized military effectiveness over excessive political control and resisting directives they assessed as unrealistic, particularly CCP general secretaryXi Jinping's demands that the PLA be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027, a timeline Zhang reportedly saw as more realistic by 2035. The report rejected claims that Zhang and Liu were charged with corruption or malfeasance, noting that the language of the accusations differed significantly from those brought againstHe Weidong orLi Shangfu. The report also highlighted growing resistance across the PLA to political interference, including open defiance of Xi's orders, which posed a serious challenge to his authority. The fact that such internal discord became visible within the PLA and even hinted within official statements, underscored its seriousness and likely played a role in Zhang's downfall.[12]
Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli most likely fell from power due to disagreements with Xi Jinping over PLA development. The four political indicators suggest that Zhang and Liu likely defied Xi Jinping's directives on military affairs in an open manner.
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Xu Linping [zh] | Commander of the38th Group Army 2014–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief of Staff ofPeople's Armed Police 2015–2015 | Succeeded by |
| New title | Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force 2015–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force 2021–2022 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief of Staff of theJoint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission 2022–present | Incumbent |