The appointment comes after Huang was elected as a member of the Central Committee – the largest of the Communist Party’s top decision-making bodies – during the national congress in October.
Huang was previously a commander of the Shenyang Military Region’s mechanised division in northeastern Liaoning province, which was seen as a pioneer in transforming training in the army, according to a report in military mouthpiece PLA Daily in 2012. It said he also led the division during a Sino-Russian joint military exercise in that time.
Huang went on to become chief of staff of the 16th Group Army, headquartered in Changchun, Jilin, also in the northeast.
During that time, in a 2014 article for PLA Daily, he identified areas such as reconnaissance, early warning and perception, information network protection, and advanced combat power as shortcomings of the People’s Liberation Army.
Huang was promoted to the rank of major general in 2014. The following year he was one of more than 50 top brass to lead the way during a massive military parade in Tiananmen Square marking the 70th anniversary of China’s victory over Japan in World War II.
In 2017, Huang became first commander of the 81st Group Army, based in Zhangjiakou in northern Hebei province, and was elevated to the rank of lieutenant general in 2019. He was promoted to deputy commander of the PLA Ground Force, according to media reports.
The Central Theatre Command – one of five that were founded in 2016 during an overhaul of the regional command system – is responsible for north-central China and the capital region and serves as the national strategic military reserve. Its primary mission is the defence of Beijing.
Wednesday’s ceremony was attended by CMC leaders elected during a major reshuffle at the twice-a-decade party congress in October. They included new vice-chairmen General Zhang Youxia and General He Weidong, as well as General Li Shangfu, General Liu Zhenli, Admiral Miao Hua and General Zhang Shengmin.
Huang is the fifth commander of the Central Theatre Command. His predecessor Wu had been commander since January last year and there has yet to be an announcement on his new role.
