Logistics: the management of the flow of services and materials. In the People’s Liberation Army, this task falls to the General Logistics Department (GLD). The GLD is responsible for transportation, inventory, material handling, warehousing and security. It is lead by General Liao Xilong, who is assisted by the political commissar, Sun Dafa.
General Liao’s birthplace was Sinan, Guizhou province. He was recruited into the PLA in 1959, and joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) four years later. In 1981, General Liao graduated from the Basic Department of the Military Academy. Four years later, he was promoted to be deputy commander of the Chengdu Military Region. The CMR is a military command in the southwest of the country, comprised of Chongqing, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Xizang. The headquarters in Chengdu, Sichuan is considered sub-provincial. It is an important site in Western China for communications, transportation and economics. Chengdu is acknowledged to be a top choice for investment within China.
Following his assignment in Chengu, General Liao attended the PLA National Defense University. This led to his promotion as commander of the Chengdu Military Region as well as party vice-secretary. Ever the bookworm, General Liao attended graduate classes at Peking University from 1999 to 2001, studying sociology. In 2002, he was given his current assignment as head of the Logistics Department. He is both a party and state member of the Central Military Commissions and has been a member of the 15th through 17th CCP Central Committees.
Political commissar General Sun was born in 1945 in Jinzhai, Anhui. He, like Generals Liao, first joined the PLA (in 1964) before joining the CCP in 1968. Starting in 1977, he was the secretary to the commander of the Shenyang Military Region (SMR), Li Desheng. The SMR controls the military and armed police forces in the Northeast China provinces of Jilin, Liaoning, and Heilongjang. It is considered inferior only to the Beijing Military Region.
General Sun was appointed a political commissar of the 115th division of the 39th army in 1984. This led to his elevation in 1990 to director of the political department of the 16th army group and assignment of the rank of major general. He subsequently became political commissar of the entire army group. In 1999, General Sun was transferred to the Shenyang Military Region and given the rank of lieutenant general a year later. Then, in 2003 he was dispatched to the Nanjing Military Region, and two years later was appointed director of its political department. 2005 was a breakout year for General Sun. He became the political vice-commissar in Nanjing, and then the political commissar for the entire General Logistics Department. In 2007, General Sun was made a full general. He is a member of the 17th CCP Central Committee, a graduate of the National Defense University, and a noted military author. He wrote High Tech War Strategy.