BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), on Monday presented certificates of order to promote two military officers to the rank of general.
The promoted officers are Political Commissar of the Southern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Wang Wenquan, and Commander of the PLA Navy Hu Zhongming.
Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the CMC, announced the order of promotion, which was signed by Xi. He Weidong, another CMC vice chairman, presided over the ceremony.
Xi extended his congratulations to the officers. Later, Xi and other leaders had group photos with them.
General is the highest rank for officers in active service in China.
The trio will conduct a series of experiments in fields such as life science, fluid physics, combustion science and materials science. Notably, this is the first time that fruit flies have been taken on a Chinese space mission as experimental subjects. What made scientists choose fruit flies? What experiment will they undergo?