Li Shangfu

Li Shangfu (; born February 1958) is a Chinese aerospace engineer and former military administrator. He served as the 13th Minister of National Defense and as State Councillor of China from March to October 2023.

Li joined the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as a technician at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in 1982. He spent 31 years working at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, including 10 years as the center director. Li Shangfu served as deputy director of the PLA General Armaments Department from 2014 to 2016 and director of the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission (CMC) from 2017 to 2022. He was conferred the rank of General in July 2019 and was appointed as a member of the CMC in October 2022. He was appointed as the 13th Minister of National Defense and as State Councillor in March 2023.

In August 2023, Li disappeared from public view and was then removed from office on October 24, 2023. He is both the shortest-serving Minister of National Defense and the first from the PLA Strategic Support Force. In June 2024, he was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) following corruption charges and his case transferred to the military's judiciary for criminal prosecution, and his rank of General revoked. In May 2026, Li was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, which will be commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole upon the expiration of the two-year reprieve period.

Early life Li Shangfu was born in February 1958 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, with his ancestral home in Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province. He is the son of Li Shaozhu, a Red Army veteran and former high-ranking officer of the . Li Shangfu joined the PLA when he entered the National University of Defense Technology in 1978, and joined the CCP in June 1980. After graduating in 1982, he began working at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center as a technician.

Li attained a Doctor of Engineering in control theory and control engineering from Chongqing University.

After 31 years working in Xichang, Li was appointed Chief of Staff of the PLA General Armaments Department (GAD) in 2013, replacing Major General Shang Hong.

Li Shangfu was conferred the rank of major general in July 2006. In August 2016, he was conferred the rank of lieutenant general. In July 2019, he was conferred the rank of general.

Central Military Commission In October 2022, he was nominated as a member of the 20th CMC of the CCP by Party general secretary Xi Jinping. He ranked first among the members of the CMC. According to The Diplomat, Li's promotion reflects Chinese attempts to prioritize aerospace in its defense modernization program, against a backdrop of increasing technological competition between China and the United States.

On April 17, 2023, Li made his first overseas visit to Russia. As part of his four-day visit, he met with Russian president Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow. During his meeting, he stated the ties between China and Russia 'surpass military-political alliances of the Cold War era'. On April 28, he met with Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh as part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation defense ministers' meeting in New Delhi, India, making it the first visit to India by a Chinese Defense Minister since the 2020 border skirmishes between Indian and Chinese troops.

In June 2023, at the 2023 IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Li made public comments stating that war with the United States would be an unbearable disaster and that both the United States and China needed to seek more common ground in the wake of recent escalations between the two countries.

Downfall

In September 2023, Reuters reported that Li was under anti-corruption investigations by the Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CMC (CMCCDI). His absence had been observed and speculated on by U.S. government officials, who told the Financial Times they believed that Li was under investigation.

On 24 October 2023, the sixth meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) decided to remove Li Shangfu from the posts of State Councilor and Minister of National Defense and remove Qin Gang from the post of State Councilor. With a tenure of seven months, Li is the shortest-serving minister of national defense of the People's Republic of China. His last public appearance was on 29 August 2023, when he delivered a speech at a security forum with African nations held in Beijing. though there had been no official announcements on Li's dismissal or resignation until 13 September 2024, when the Standing Committee of the 14th NPC announced Li's dismissal.

On 27 June 2024, the CCP Politburo announced that Li, along with former defense minister Wei Fenghe, have been expelled from the party for "disciplinary and law violations", and the case has been referred to the PLA's procuratorial organs for criminal prosecution, with Li being accused of accepting financial bribes as well as bribing others. Both the men were also stripped of their rank of general. In July 2024, the 3rd Plenary Session of the 20th CCP Central Committee confirmed the decision to expel Li. In January 2026, The Wall Street Journal reported that an internal briefing regarding CMC Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia linked the investigation on him to Li, with Zhang allegedly helping elevate Li in exchange of large bribes.

On 7 May 2026, Li was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve over accepting and offering bribes, and no further commutation or parole will be allowed after their penalties are commuted to life imprisonment upon the expiration of the two-year reprieve period. On 8 May 2026, the People's Liberation Army Daily posted an editorial which stated "The military wields the gun and there must be no one who harbours disloyalty to the party" and added "As senior party and military leaders, Wei and Li showed a collapse of faith and a loss of loyalty, betraying their original aspirations and missions and abandoning party principles". It added that Wei and Li had betrayed the trust and expectations of the CCP Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, "severely polluted the political environment of the military, and caused immense damage to the party’s cause, national defence, military construction and the image of senior leaders".

Controversies

U.S. sanctions On 20 September 2018, Li Shangfu, along with the Equipment Development Department, were sanctioned by the U.S. government for "engaging in significant transactions with persons" sanctioned under United States federal law CAATSA, namely for transactions that involved "Russia's transfer to China of Su-35 combat aircraft and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment." As a result, he is included in the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. Despite the sanctions imposed on him by the United States, he would be allowed to conduct official meetings with his American counterparts although an exemption will not be issued to waive his sanction designation.

On 21 May 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden stated that his administration was considering lifting sanctions on Li, though later in a press briefing on 22 May, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that the United States is not considering lifting sanctions.