Background
Gao Jin was born in April 1959 in Jingjiang, Jiangsu Province, to parents who were both PLA soldiers.
高津
Gao Jin was born in April 1959 in Jingjiang, Jiangsu Province, to parents who were both PLA soldiers.
Since December 2015 he has served as the inaugural commander of the PLA Strategic Support Force. He joined the PLA in 1978 without telling his family, and spent most of his career in the Second Artillery Corps, China"s strategic missile force. Gao entered the Second Artillery Command College in 1985, and graduated with a master"s degree in engineering.
He was made a lieutenant general (zhong jiang) in July 2013.
He was promoted twice in 2014, first to assistant chief of the PLA General Staff Department in July, and on December 22, he became President of the PLA Academy of Military Science, the PLA"s top research institute, enjoying the same rank as the commanders of the PLA"s seven military regions. At age 55, he became the youngest regional chief-level commander of the PLA. He succeeded General Liu Chengjun, who had reached retirement age.
On December 31, 2015, as part of wide-ranging reforms of the People"s Liberation Army, Gao was named first commander of the PLA Strategic Support Force. The Communist Party mouthpiece People"s Daily has praised him as a "technologically powerful military leader.".
He formerly served as President of the PLA Academy of Military Science, and Chief of Staff of the Second Artillery Corps, where he spent most of his career. He rose through the ranks of the Second Artillery Corps, attaining the rank of major general in July 2006, and eventually becoming its chief of staff in December 2011. Gao has published many academic articles, and has won technological and military awards.
In 2012, he was elected an alternate member of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (2012–2017).