China has announced former Navy chief Dong Jun as its new defense minister, nearly two months after sacking former minister Li Shangfu.
China's top legislators announced Dong Jun's appointment at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress held in Beijing on Friday.
Dong Jun, 62, is a former Navy commander. He had been appointed as the Navy Commander in August 2021.
Dong Jun has served as deputy commander of the Southern Theater Command of the Chinese military and has also handled disputed areas such as the South China Sea.
The move comes after China sacked the country's top military officials earlier this year.
This year, China removed Li Shangfu as Minister of Defense and Qin Gang as Foreign Minister. However, the reason for the dismissal of these two ministers has not been disclosed. Both of them could stay in their posts for only seven months.
Some officers have been fired this week as well.
Nine senior military officers were removed by the Standing Committee on Friday, Reuters news agency quoted China's state media Xinhua as saying.
Three executives from a state-owned missile defense company were also removed from China's top political advisory body earlier this week, according to Chinese state media.
