The Shanghai authorities of the Chinese Communist Party recently broke with tradition by convening the full meeting of the so-called “Double Support Work Leading Group” ahead of schedule. Major General Zhang Zhanli, the newly appointed commander of the Shanghai Garrison, was conspicuously absent.
According to the official website of the Shanghai Municipal Government, the 20th full meeting (expanded) of the Shanghai “Double Support Work Leading Group” was held on March 31, 2026. Gong Zheng, Deputy Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, Mayor of Shanghai, and leader of the Shanghai “Double Support Work Leading Group,” attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Zhu Zhongming, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, presided over the meeting. Lu Shan, Deputy Mayor, summarized and deployed the work. Xu Bin, Deputy Political Commissar of the Shanghai Garrison, spoke on behalf of the stationed forces in Shanghai.
Videos and photos from the scene showed that among the military leaders seated at the main table with Gong Zheng and other senior officials from Shanghai, only Xu Bin, the Deputy Political Commissar of the Shanghai Garrison, was present. Major General Zhang Zhanli, the newly appointed commander of the Shanghai Garrison, was notably absent. In the three similar meetings held in the past five years, two former commanders of the Shanghai Garrison attended and made speeches.
On January 14, 2026, Major General Zhang Zhanli, the commander of the Shanghai Garrison, presided over the 14th expanded meeting of the Shanghai Garrison Party Committee. This was the first public appearance of Zhang Zhanli as the commander of the Shanghai Garrison.
Zhang Zhanli, whose age and military resume are undisclosed, was interviewed by the official military media as the Deputy Minister of the Military Training Department of the Air Force Command in February 2014. In July 2022, he appeared publicly as the President of the Shijiazhuang Flight Academy of the Air Force.
According to reports from Shanghai’s official media, over the past five years, the Shanghai “Double Support Work Leading Group” has held its 17th to 19th full meetings every two years, convened respectively in July 2021, March 2023, and March 2025. Mayor Gong Zheng of Shanghai attended and delivered speeches at each meeting. As per convention, the 20th full meeting was scheduled for 2027 but has been brought forward by a year.
On March 21, 2025, the 19th full meeting of the Shanghai “Double Support Work Leading Group” was held, and at that time, Major General Chen Lianbing, the then commander of the Shanghai Garrison, spoke on behalf of the stationed forces in Shanghai. On March 22, 2023, during the 18th full meeting, and on July 27, 2021, during the 17th full meeting, Major General Liu Jie, the then commander of the Shanghai Garrison, represented the stationed forces, with Vice Political Commissar Wei Changjin of the Shanghai Garrison in attendance.
During the great cleansing within the Chinese Communist Party’s military forces, in January 2026, Major General Chen Lianbing, the commander of the Shanghai Garrison, was demoted to the Deputy Commander of the Hunan Provincial Military Region. Several members of the Shanghai Garrison Party Committee, including Vice Commander Major General Xu Guoan, have gone missing. Major General Hu Shijun, the Political Commissar of the Shanghai Garrison, was unusually dismissed a year ago, and the position of Political Commissar remains vacant to this day.