Pengpai News reported on January 1, 2018, that it had learned from authoritative sources that Lt General Xu Anxiang, former Deputy Commander of the Southern Theatre Command and Commander of the Theater Command Air Force, and  Major General Yu Qingjiang, former Chief of the Air Command Academy, have become members of the PLA Air Force Party Standing Committee.

PLAAF Lieutenant General Xu Anxiang was born in 1956. In 2002 Xu was commander of the 14th Fighter Division, a unit on constant combat duty in the Nanjing War Zone. In 2007 he was frontline commander for PLAAF fighters deployed to the Sino-Russian joint military exercise Peace Mission 2007. It was a notable appointment as the PLAAF top leadership always selects the most competent commanders to command transnational military missions. This was the first time that PLAAF aircraft had entered a foreign country for combat drills. Xu Anxiang directed 24 sorties of eight Chinese J-7s and Il-76s within a short period of time. His division achieved its tactical objectives, even though in a strange location, against unfamiliar targets, and under uncertain circumstances. He served as former Nanjing Military Region Air Force 14 Division Commander, former Nanjing Military Region Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Staff. In 2011, Xu Anxiang moved to Air Force headquarters as Deputy Chief of Staff of the PLA Air Force. Xu Anxiang was promoted to the post of Commander of the Guangzhou Military Region Air Force in December 2012 and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General in 2014.

After the start of the current round of military reform, Xu Anxiang was appointed Deputy Commander of the Southern Theatre Command and Commander of the Theatre Command Air Force.

According to the Chinese Air Force official microblogging on December 12, 2017, Southern Theater Command Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Xu Anxiang, witnessed the Air Force far sea training and the South China Sea combat normalization, and has conducted deep study about combat. Xu Anxiang said: "Carrying out long-distance ocean-going training is an important support for deepening military struggle in the sea. It is the common practice of the Air Forces of the big and strong powers. It is also an inevitable choice for the Chinese Air Force to become a strong military. Senior commanders of the new era should be good leaders in preparations for war, keeping in mind the mission, strengthening the consciousness of war, setting up the posture of the great nation's air force, carry the burden of preparation for war to keep Chairman Xi and the people of the whole country at ease.

Xu Anxiang is a  member of the 19th CCP Central Committee.

Another member of the Standing Committee of the Air Force is Major General Yu Qingjiang. Yu Qingjiang graduated from a flight academy of the Air Force, and has the rank of PLA Air Force Major General. He is a nationally acclaimed pilot. He studied at the Air Force Political College, the Russian Air Force Military Academy, Air Force Engineering University and National Defense University. Yu Qingjiang served as former chief of staff of the Jinan Military Region Air Force, and later replaced Major General Ma Jian in 2015 as Dean of Air Command College, the highest air force school.