Amidst the massive purge within the People’s Liberation Army of China, there have been significant changes in leadership within the Shanghai Garrison following the removal of several high-ranking officials. Former Shanghai Garrison Commander Major General Chen Lianbing has been demoted to the position of Deputy Commander of the Hunan Provincial Military Region. Several members of the Shanghai Garrison Party Committee, including Deputy Commander Major General Xu Guo’an, have also gone missing. The position of Political Commissar at the Shanghai Garrison has been vacant for a year after Major General Hu Shijun was unexpectedly relieved of his duties.
According to a report from the Xuhui District Government website in Shanghai on February 11, 2026, Xuhui District Party Secretary Cao Liqiang led a visit to express condolences to the stationed troops in the city. During the visit to the Shanghai Garrison, Cao Liqiang and his team were received by Garrison Commander Major General Zhang Zhanli and Deputy Political Commissar Major General Xu Bin. The report did not mention the appearance of the Political Commissar of the Shanghai Garrison.
In a previous event, the annual Shanghai Military Recruitment Conference was held on January 15, 2026. Garrison Commander Zhang Zhanli delivered a speech while Deputy Political Commissar Xu Bin presided over the meeting.
In a previous annual Shanghai Military Recruitment Conference held on February 6, 2024, the then-Shanghai Municipal Committee Standing Committee member and Garrison Political Commissar Major General Hu Shijun, along with Deputy Commander Major General Xu Guo’an of the Shanghai Garrison, were in attendance.
On January 17, 2025, the Chinese authorities announced that Garrison Commander Chen Lianbing had been appointed as a member and Standing Committee member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee, while Political Commissar Hu Shijun no longer held the positions of Standing Committee member and Committee member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee.
Hu Shijun, who was born in November 1965 in Ningxiang, Hunan Province, held the rank of Major General and had served in the former Guangzhou Military Region for a long time. He had previously served as the Political Commissar of the Shantou Garrison, Director of the Political Department of the 42nd Group Army in 2015, Director of the Political Work Department of the Southern Theater Command Army’s 75th Group Army (formerly the 41st Group Army of the Guangzhou Military Region) in 2017, and Director of the Political Work Department of the Tibet Military Region in 2020. In 2023, he was appointed as a Standing Committee member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee and Political Commissar of the Shanghai Garrison.
It is worth noting that Hu Shijun was relieved of his duties before reaching the age of 60. The Baidu entry for “Hu Shijun” at that time already referred to him as a former Standing Committee member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee and former Major General Political Commissar of the Shanghai Garrison, indicating that Hu Shijun may have concurrently relinquished his position as Political Commissar of the Shanghai Garrison.
Compared to the promotions or retirement upon reaching retirement age of previous Shanghai Garrison Political Commissars, the dismissal of Hu Shijun at the age of just over 59 was highly unusual.
Shortly before Hu Shijun’s dismissal, on December 25, 2024, Lieutenant General and former Deputy Commander of the Army, You Haitao, was removed from the National People’s Congress.
You Haitao’s military career began in the Guangzhou Military Region, where his father You Taizhong was a commander. He served as the Deputy Commander of the 42nd Group Army of the Guangzhou Military Region in 2002, became the Commander of the 42nd Group Army in September 2007, and served as Deputy Commander of the Nanjing Military Region from July 2013 to December 2015.
Hu Shijun had served in the former Guangzhou Military Region’s 42nd Group Army for a long time and was a former subordinate of the father-son duo You Taizhong and You Haitao.
After his dismissal, Hu Shijun’s whereabouts remain unknown. It has been over a year since January 2025, and there have been no public reports on the appointment of a new Political Commissar for the Shanghai Garrison.
Currently, the Baidu Baike entry for the Shanghai Garrison lists the current leaders as Garrison Commander Major General Zhang Zhanli, Deputy Commander Major General Xu Guo’an, Major General Deputy Political Commissar and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission Xu Bin; however, the list does not include the name of the Political Commissar.
On January 14, 2026, Garrison Commander Zhang Zhanli presided over the Shanghai Garrison Party Committee’s 14th Sixth Plenary (Expanded) Meeting. This was the first appearance of Zhang Zhanli in his capacity as Garrison Commander of the Shanghai Garrison.
Details about Zhang Zhanli’s age and military career are not available. In February 2014, Zhang Zhanli was interviewed by the Chinese military newspaper as the Deputy Minister of the Military Training Department of the Air Force Command. In July 2022, he made a public appearance as the Dean of the Shijiazhuang Aviation College of the Air Force.
Zhang Zhanli’s predecessor, former Shanghai Garrison Commander and Standing Committee member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee, Chen Lianbing, has been demoted to the position of Deputy Commander of the Hunan Provincial Military Region. Both the Shanghai Garrison and the Hunan Provincial Military Region are regular units under the People’s Liberation Army Central Military Commission’s Department of Defense Mobilization.
According to reports from Hunan official media, the Hunan Provincial Military Region Party Committee held its 15th Sixth Plenary (Expanded) Meeting in Changsha on January 14-15, 2026. Shen Xiaoming, Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and the first Secretary of the Military Region Party Committee, attended and delivered a speech. Ma Yongsheng, Secretary of the Military Region Party Committee and Political Commissar, chaired the meeting and presented a work report, while Lin Jiachun, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Commander of the Military Region, spoke at the meeting.
On January 15, 2026, the video conference on military recruitment in Hunan Province was held in Changsha, where Chen Lianbing attended and spoke as the Deputy Commander of the Hunan Provincial Military Region.
Chen Lianbing, whose age is unknown, is from Nantong, Jiangsu Province, and held the rank of Major General. He had served in the People’s Armed Police force for a long time, becoming the Deputy Commander of the Xinjiang Corps of the People’s Armed Police in 2020, then transferring to become the Commander of the Hainan Provincial Corps of the People’s Armed Police the following year, followed by serving as the Commander of the Inner Mongolia Military Region in April 2023. In August 2024, he was appointed as the Commander of the Shanghai Garrison, and in January 2025, he became a Standing Committee member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee before being demoted to Deputy Commander of the Hunan Provincial Military Region a year later.
On January 14, 2026, the 14th Sixth Plenary (Expanded) Meeting of the Shanghai Garrison Party Committee was held. According to reports from Shanghai officials, Chen Jineng, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee and the first Secretary of the Shanghai Garrison Party Committee, attended and delivered a speech. Zhang Zhanli, Garrison Commander of the Shanghai Garrison, presided over the meeting, and Garrison Party Committee members Xu Bin and Yang Sheng attended.
A year earlier, on January 23, 2025, the 14th Fourth Plenum (Expanded) Meeting of the Shanghai Garrison Party Committee was held. Chen Jineng attended and spoke at the meeting. At that time, then-Shanghai Municipal Committee Standing Committee member and Shanghai Garrison Commander Chen Lianbing chaired the meeting, with Party Committee members Xu Guo’an, Xu Bin, Chen Lixin, Yang Sheng, Zhao Hu, Wu Guangjing, and Cheng Baogen in attendance.
During this period, there were no public reports on the 14th Fifth Plenary (Expanded) Meeting of the Shanghai Garrison Party Committee.
One year later, of the seven Party Committee Standing Committee members who attended the Shanghai Garrison Party Committee’s Fourth Plenum, only Xu Bin and Yang Sheng had attended the Sixth Plenum. The whereabouts of the absent Xu Guo’an, Chen Lixin, Zhao Hu, Wu Guangjing, and Cheng Baogen are currently unknown.
Publicly available information indicates that Chen Lixin had previously served as Director of the Garrison Mobilization Bureau and Director of the City’s Military Recruitment Office; Zhao Hu had served as Director of the Garrison’s Office and Mobilization Bureau; Cheng Baogen had served as Director of the Garrison’s Logistics Department.
Wu Guangjing had served as Director of the Suzhou Military Sub-District Political Department, Political Commissar of the Yangzhou Military Sub-District, and Standing Committee member of the Yangzhou Municipal Committee; Director of the Political Work Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Military Region; in 2022, he was transferred to become the Director of the Political Work Department of the Shanghai Garrison.
Xu Guo’an had previously served as the Brigade Commander of an Artillery Brigade in the Nanjing Military Region, and since January 2013, he had served as the Commander of the Nantong Military Sub-District and concurrently as a Standing Committee member of the Nantong Municipal Committee. In 2020, he was appointed as Deputy Commander of the Shanghai Garrison and promoted to the rank of Major General.
In September 2025, Xu Guo’an made a public appearance as Deputy Commander of the Shanghai Garrison.
Reported by Shanghai officials, on September 16, 2025, a ceremony to bid farewell to new soldiers for the second half of the year was held at the Shanghai Railway Station. Deputy Commander of the Shanghai Garrison Xu Guo’an and Deputy Political Commissar Xu Bin attended the ceremony.