Former senior Chinese military official Xu Qiliang died of illness at the age of 75 in Beijing at 12:12 p.m. on Monday, according to an official statement.

Xu had served as a member of the Political Bureau of the 18th and 19th Central Committees of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. He was praised in the statement as an excellent CPC member, a time-tested and loyal communist soldier, a proletarian military strategist and an outstanding leader of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Xu joined the PLA in July 1966, became a CPC member in July 1967, and was awarded the rank of Air Force General in June 2007.