On February 15, 2026, it was announced that Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party, and Liu Zhenli, a member of the Military Commission, had been arrested and officially dismissed on the eve of January 24. As a result, there have been a series of changes in leadership positions in provincial-level military regions such as the Beijing Garrison District and the Shanghai Garrison District.
In these changes, Chen Yuan, the commander of the Shanghai Armed Police Corps, was transferred to the Beijing Garrison District, while Chen Lianbing, the commander of the Shanghai Garrison District, was reassigned as the deputy commander of the Hunan Provincial Military Region. The whereabouts of former Shanxi Military Region Commander Tian Yue (58 years old) and former Shaanxi Military Region Commander Ming Zunqiang (57 years old), who have stepped down from their positions, are currently unknown.
According to a report by The Paper, on the eve of the Chinese New Year on February 12, 2026, Gu Quan, the Party Secretary and Director of the Shanghai Judicial Bureau, along with Deputy Director of the Shanghai Judicial Bureau and Party Secretary and Director of the Prison Management Bureau Wang Dongsheng, visited and comforted the Shanghai Municipal Corps of the People’s Armed Police. Major General Meng Xiangxi, the commander of the Shanghai Municipal Corps of the People’s Armed Police, received the delegation.
This marks the first time that Meng Xiangxi’s title as the commander of the Shanghai Municipal Corps of the People’s Armed Police has been revealed by the mainland media.
Three days earlier on February 9, 2026, the annual political and legal work conference of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China was held. According to official reports from Shanghai, “Xu Bin and Meng Xiangxi, leaders of the garrisoned forces in Shanghai, attended the meeting.”
Meng Xiangxi’s age and military background are not publicly known. Available information indicates that Meng Xiangxi served in the 187th Brigade of the People’s Armed Police (the 8650 unit of the People’s Armed Police) in 2016, was the commander of the Eighth Mobile Detachment of a People’s Armed Police unit around 2018, and was transferred to the Shanghai Municipal Corps of the People’s Armed Police in 2019.
Meng Xiangxi’s predecessor, Major General Chen Yuan, the former commander of the Shanghai Municipal Corps of the People’s Armed Police, has been transferred to the Beijing Garrison District.
On February 4, 2026, Caixin Media cited a report from Beijing Daily stating that Chen Yuan, as a leader of the Beijing Garrison District, attended the 9th plenary session of the 10th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China of the Beijing Garrison District held on January 14, 2026.
Public records show that Chen Yuan, born in August 1972 in Dongtai, Yancheng, Jiangsu, had a long career in the People’s Armed Police system. He served as the Deputy Commander in Chief of the Jiangsu Provincial Corps of the People’s Armed Police around 2018, then as the principal of the People’s Armed Police Officer Academy around 2019, and was appointed as the commander of the Guangxi Provincial Corps of the People’s Armed Police in 2021, when he was also promoted to the rank of Major General of the People’s Armed Police. As of January 2023, Chen Yuan was the commander of the Shanghai Municipal Corps of the People’s Armed Police before his recent transfer to the leadership position in the Beijing Garrison District.
Beijing official media has not disclosed Chen Yuan’s current specific position. However, according to convention, Chen Yuan is expected to fill the vacancy left by the former commander of the Beijing Garrison District, Fu Wenhua, who is a previous subordinate of Zhang Youxia, the former Vice Chairman of the Military Commission who was recently arrested.
Fu Wenhua was appointed as the commander of the Beijing Garrison District in April 2020, promoted to Deputy Commander of the People’s Armed Police with the rank of Major General in March 2025, and reassigned to the position of Deputy Commander of the Army in October 2025. Following Fu Wenhua’s reassignment, the position of the commander of the Beijing Garrison District remained vacant for nearly a year.
Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli were arrested and officially dismissed on January 24, 2026. Prior to their fall from grace, there were numerous rumors circulating after their absence from a high-level Communist Party seminar on January 20, 2026. Veteran military commentator, Mark, in an interview with Epoch Times, analyzed the appointment of Chen Yuan as the commander of the Beijing Garrison District before the arrests of Zhang and Liu were made public. This indicates that Xi Jinping had reliable individuals in place to oversee the Beijing Garrison District before taking action against Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli.
Mark speculated that as early as January 2023, when Chen Yuan became the commander of the Shanghai Municipal Corps of the People’s Armed Police, many believed he was involved in the sudden death of the former premier, Li Keqiang, in Shanghai in October 2023. Though unconfirmed, some believe that Chen Yuan may have been involved, but his loyalty to Xi Jinping may have spared him from disciplinary actions and promoted him to a key position in Beijing.
The Beijing Garrison District, also known as the “Imperial Guard,” plays a crucial role in safeguarding the security of the Beijing metropolitan area, including important government institutions such as Zhongnanhai. During wartime, it is responsible for ensuring the safe retreat of the top leadership of the Communist Party of China. It is believed that controlling the Beijing Garrison District is equivalent to having half of Beijing under one’s control.
Simultaneously with the changes in leadership in the Shanghai Armed Police Corps, there was also a change in the leadership of the Shanghai Garrison District.
On January 14, 2026, Major General Zhang Zhanli, the commander of the Shanghai Garrison District, chaired the 6th plenum of the 14th Central Committee of the Party Committee of the Shanghai Garrison District. This was the first public appearance of Zhang Zhanli in his capacity as commander of the Shanghai Garrison District.
Zhang Zhanli’s age and military background are not publicly known. Public information shows that Zhang Zhanli previously served as the Deputy Minister of Military Training of the Air Force Command and as the Dean of Shanghai Aviation College.
Zhang Zhanli’s predecessor, Chen Lianbing, the former commander of the Shanghai Garrison District and member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee, was reassigned as the deputy commander of the Hunan Provincial Military Region. Both the Shanghai Garrison District and the Hunan Provincial Military Region are regular military units under the command of the National Defense Mobilization Department of the Central Military Commission.
According to reports from Hunan official media, the 6th expanded plenary session of the 15th Central Committee of the Party Committee of the Hunan Provincial Military Region took place in Changsha from January 14 to 15, 2026. Chen Lianbing was one of the “provincial military region leaders” in attendance.
On January 15, 2026, a video conference on military recruitment work in Hunan Province took place in Changsha. Chen Lianbing attended the meeting and gave a speech as the Deputy Commander of the Hunan Provincial Military Region.
Chen Lianbing, whose age is unknown, is a Major General from Nantong, Jiangsu, who has long served in the People’s Armed Police system. He was the Deputy Commander of the Xinjiang Provincial Corps of the People’s Armed Police in 2020, the commander of the Hainan Provincial Corps of the People’s Armed Police in the following year; he became the Commander of the Inner Mongolia Military Region in April 2023, the commander of the Shanghai Garrison District in August 2024, and was appointed as a full-time member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee in January 2025. However, a year later, he was reassigned as the deputy commander of the Hunan Provincial Military Region.
Before the arrests and dismissal of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, as well as the changing of commanders in the Beijing Garrison District, the Shanghai Garrison District, and the Shanghai Municipal Corps of the People’s Armed Police, several top military and political officials in provincial-level military regions have also been reassigned.
At the mid-January meetings of the Party Committees of Anhui, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hainan, Jilin, and Sichuan Provincial Military Regions, new leaders were introduced. These officials include Wang Jinliang, the Political Commissioner of the Anhui Provincial Military Region; Chen Jundong, the Commander of the Shanxi Provincial Military Region; Zhang Wenzhong, the Commander of the Shaanxi Provincial Military Region; Ding Jinsong, the Commander of the Hainan Provincial Military Region; Wang Qingyun, the Political Commissioner of the Jilin Provincial Military Region; and Liu Sen, the Commander of the Sichuan Provincial Military Region.
Major General Chen Jundong, the new Commander of the Shanxi Provincial Military Region, previously served as the Deputy Director of the Yinfang Bureau of the General Office of the Central Military Commission, the Deputy Commander of the Liaoning Provincial Military Region, and a member of the Hainan Provincial Military Region Party Committee and Deputy Commander.
Chen Jundong succeeded the former Commander of the Shanxi Provincial Military Region, Major General Tian Yue, who was born in October 1968 in Heilongjiang and had taken on various roles including Deputy Director of the Political Department of the Army Aviation Department of the General Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff of the 65th Group Army, and Deputy Commander of the 77th Group Army in the Western Theater Command. Tian Yue, currently 58 years old, has an undisclosed current position.
The age and military background of the new Commander of the Shaanxi Provincial Military Region, Zhang Wenzhong, are not disclosed. According to a report by the Weinan Daily, on December 12, 2025, a conference was held to appoint Zhang Wenzhong as the “Major General Commander of the Provincial Military Region.”
Zhang Wenzhong succeeded the former Commander of the Shaanxi Provincial Military Region, Major General Ming Zunqiang, who was born in 1969 in Yuncheng County, Heze City, Shandong. Ming Zunqiang became the Commander of the Shaanxi Provincial Military Region in May 2024 at the age of 57, and his current whereabouts are unknown.
Major General Wang Qingyun, the new Political Commissioner of the Jilin Provincial Military Region, previously served as the Deputy Political Commissioner of the Zhengzhou Logistics Support Center of the Logistics Support Force and as a full-time member, Deputy Political Commissioner, and Discipline Inspection Secretary of the Chongqing Garrison District.
Major General Wang Jinliang, the new Political Commissioner of the Anhui Provincial Military Region, previously served as the Political Commissioner of a certain base of the Strategic Support Force.
The military backgrounds of the new Commander of the Hainan Provincial Military Region, Ding Jinsong, and the new Commander of the Sichuan Provincial Military Region, Liu Sen, remain undisclosed.