Chen Bingde

Chen Bingde (born July 1941 in Nantong, Jiangsu) is a general in the People's Liberation Army. He was the Director-General of the General Armaments Department until September 2007. In this position he acted as the head of the space program of China. Currently he is both the commanding general of People's Liberation Army General Staff Department in Beijing, which is equivalent to chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Commander-in-Chief of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force.

Biography
He joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1962 and has been a member of the CPC Central Military Commission since 2004. He was former chief of the Nanjing Military Region, a crucial region in Beijing's military strategy against Taiwan.

In 2004, he was promoted to the director of the General Armament Department as well as the secretary of CPC's committee. In 2007 he was promoted to the direct of General Staff Department. He was made a major general in September 1988, a lieutenant general in July 1995, and a general in 2002. He is a member of CPC's 15th, 16th and 17th central committee.