Lieutenant-General Qiao Qingchen has been named new political commissar of the PLA Air Force.
He replaces General Ding Wenchang, who stepped down on reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65.
Military analysts said General Qiao's appointment was made at the enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission in December.
The new commissar, in his 50s, belonged to a younger generation of PLA officers groomed to take the air force into the next century, analysts said.
His meteoric rise from a regional air force commander three years ago to a top leader was noteworthy, one source said.
General Qiao was vice-commander of Beijing Regional Command, as well as its air force commander, in 1996. He was promoted to vice-commander of the Air Force National Command a year later.