Beijing garrison vacancy and replacement
On Feb. 4, 2026, Caixin, citing the Beijing Daily, reported that Major General Chen Yuan attended a Jan. 14 meeting of the Beijing Garrison Party Committee in his capacity as a garrison leader. That appearance indicates Chen had arrived in Beijing before mid-January.
The state media did not specify his title. The commander’s post at the Beijing Garrison had remained vacant for nearly a year. By convention, Chen would have filled that position.
The Beijing Garrison, sometimes referred to as the “Imperial Guard,” is responsible in peacetime for guarding Zhongnanhai and other central institutions, and in wartime for covering the retreat of CCP leadership. A longstanding saying holds that whoever controls the Beijing Garrison effectively holds half of Beijing.
Chen’s predecessor, Fu Wenhua, had served in the 16th Group Army of the former Shenyang Military Region and had previously been a subordinate of Zhang Youxia. Fu was promoted to Beijing Garrison commander in April 2020. In March 2025, he was transferred to serve as deputy commander of the Armed Police and promoted to lieutenant general. In October 2025, he became deputy commander of the Army.
Following Fu’s departure, the garrison commander’s post remained unfilled for months before Chen’s arrival.
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Chen is said to be from Dongtai, Yancheng, Jiangsu, which is the same hometown as former CMC Vice Chairman He Weidong, who has also fallen from power. The two reportedly had prior connections in the former Nanjing Military Region.
Military blogger Mark has argued that Chen had served as commander of the Shanghai Armed Police Corps no later than January 2023. In October 2023, former Premier Li Keqiang died suddenly in Shanghai. At the time, some alleged that Chen Yuan was responsible. The authenticity of that claim cannot be confirmed. Li died within Chen’s jurisdiction, and Chen reportedly faced internal pressure afterward. He was not removed from office. Instead, he was transferred to Beijing and assumed a sensitive post. Mark suggested that Xi Jinping may have viewed Chen’s handling of events as evidence of loyalty.
Shanghai armed police and garrison changes
A parallel shift occurred within the Shanghai Corps of the Armed Police.
On Feb. 12, 2026, state-run outlet The Paper reported that Gu Quan, director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice, and Wang Dongsheng, deputy director and head of the Prison Administration Bureau, visited the corps ahead of the Chinese New Year. The reception was hosted by Major General Meng Xiangxi, identified as commander of the Shanghai Corps of the Armed Police. This was the first time mainland media disclosed that Meng had taken the post.
Three days earlier, Shanghai state media reported that Meng attended the city’s annual political-legal work conference as one of the stationed force leaders.
Public information about Meng is limited. His age and detailed résumé is difficult to locate. Available records show that in 2016 he served in the 187th Mobile Division of the Armed Police Force. Around 2018, he became commander of a mobile eighth detachment, and in 2019 he was transferred to the Shanghai Armed Police Corps.
Meng replaced Chen Yuan, who had already moved to the Beijing Garrison before Zhang Youxia’s removal was announced.
The command of the Shanghai Garrison also changed hands shortly before Jan. 24.
On Jan. 14, 2026, Major General Zhang Zhanli presided over a plenary meeting of the Shanghai Garrison Party Committee, indicating he had assumed the post of commander. His predecessor, Chen Lianbing, was reassigned as deputy commander of the Hunan Provincial Military District.
According to Hunan Daily, Chen attended a Jan. 14–15 meeting of the Hunan Provincial Military District Party Committee and later spoke at a conscription video conference in his new capacity. That places his transfer before Jan. 14.
Wikipedia lists Zhang Zhanli’s appointment as January 2026, citing an Aug. 9, 2024 report from China Jiangsu Net confirming Chen Lianbing’s earlier tenure in Shanghai. However, the exact date of Chen’s departure and Zhang’s installation has not been clearly disclosed. Previous officeholders’ appointment and departure dates were publicly specified.
Chen Lianbing, a major general from Nantong, Jiangsu, served for years in the Armed Police. In 2020 he became deputy commander of the Armed Police Xinjiang Corps. In 2021 he was appointed commander of the Armed Police Hainan Corps. In April 2023 he became commander of the Inner Mongolia Military District. In August 2024 he was transferred to serve as Shanghai Garrison commander. In January 2025 he joined the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee as a uniformed member. In January 2026 he was reassigned to Hunan as deputy commander of the provincial military district.
Provincial military districts adjusted in mid-January
Personnel changes extended beyond Beijing and Shanghai.
According to Caixin, newly appointed chiefs appeared at Party committee meetings in mid-January 2026 in the Anhui, Shanxi, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hainan and Jilin provincial military districts.
They included Wang Jinliang as political commissar of Anhui, Zhang Wenzhong as commander of Shaanxi, Chen Jundong as commander of Shanxi, Wang Qingyun as political commissar of Jilin, Ding Jinsong as commander of Hainan, and Liu Sen as commander of Sichuan.
The military backgrounds of Liu Sen, Ding Jinsong and Zhang Wenzhong are not clearly documented in publicly available sources.
Zhang Youxia is from Weinan, Shaanxi. On Dec. 12, 2025, Weinan Daily reported that Zhang Wenzhong attended a meeting announcing the appointment of the first secretary of the Weinan Military Subdistrict Party Committee in his capacity as provincial military district commander. That date was close to the reported timing of Zhang Youxia’s arrest.
Zhang Wenzhong’s predecessor, Major General Ming Zunqiang, had taken office in May 2024. His current whereabouts have not been publicly disclosed. Similarly, the predecessor of newly appointed Shanxi commander Chen Jundong, 58-year-old Tian Yue, is no longer in his post, and his current status has not been announced.
By the time the Jan. 24 announcement was made, leadership posts tied to internal security and regional command in several key locations had already changed hands.
By Li Deyan
