Xu Xueqiang is a general (shangjiang) of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), serving as head of the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission since October 2022. He was the president of PLA National Defence University from 2021 to 2022 and previously served as commander of Northern Theater Command Air Force and before that, chief of staff of Nanjing Military Region Air Force.

The China Manned Space Program, also known as Project 921 is a space program developed by the People's Republic of China and run by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) under the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission, designed to develop and enhance human spaceflight capabilities for China. It was approved on 21 September 1992 and has been in operation ever since. The CMS commander and director are currently Xu Xueqiang and Zhou Jianping respectively; the latter has held this position since 2006, after taking over from Wang Yongzhi, who served as the first director from 1992 to 2006.