BEIJING, Sept. 16 (ChinaMil) — At the invitation of the Mexican and Cuban armed forces and the security department of Costa Rica, Wang Guanzhong, deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), led a delegation and left Beijing for Mexico on September 15 to attend the 205th anniversary of Mexico’s independence and pay official visits to Cuba and Costa Rica.

 

The principal entourage of the delegation includes Xing Shucheng, deputy commander of the PLA Guangzhou Military Area Command (MAC), and others.

 

About General Wang

 

Wang Guanzhong was born in February 1953 in Zhaodong, Heilongjiang Province. He joined the PLA in December 1970, serving in the army artillery force in the Shenyang Military Region. He became an officer in 1974 and joined the Communist Party of China. He is a graduate of the Central Party School.

 

In 2001 Wang became a deputy director of the General Office of the Central Military Commission, and was promoted to Director in 2007. He also served as a member of the 17th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection from 2007 to 2012. He was later promoted to Deputy Chief of the PLA General Staff Department and elected to the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (2012–17) as a full member.

 

Wang Guanzhong attained the rank of major general in 2001 and lieutenant general in 2009. In July 2015, he was promoted to Shang Jiang (general), the highest rank for Chinese military officers in active duty.

 

The General made news last year during the Shangri-La talks between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel over the dispute and military action by his forces in the South China Sea. The meeting was less than pleasant as General Wang believed that the U.S. and Japan were attempting to provoke China.