Li Shangfu is a Chinese aerospace engineer and former military administrator who served as the 13th Minister of National Defense of China and as State Councillor of China from March to October 2023. He joined the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as a technician at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in 1982. He was conferred the rank of general in July 2019 and was appointed as a member of the Central Military Commission in October 2022. In August 2023 Li disappeared from public view and was then removed from office on October 24, 2023. He is both the shortest-serving Minister of National Defense and the first from the PLA Strategic Support Force.
Li in 2023
Zhang Youxia, Li and the Chinese delegation in Moscow, Russia in 2017
Li at the SCO defense ministers' meeting in New Delhi, India, 28 April 2023
A state councillor is a high-ranking position within the State Council, the executive organ of the Chinese government. It ranks immediately below the vice premiers and above the ministers of various departments. Similar to minister without portfolio, the position carries duties unspecified at the time of appointment, although state councillor may also be appointed to head a department.
Image: Chi Haotian
Image: Zhou Yongkang
Image: Cao Gangchuan 071105 D 7203T 005 0Y2A3
Image: Tang Jiaxuan 01