Commissar role puts Liu Shaoqi son in top spot for job at CMC

General Liu Yuan, the fourth son of the late president Liu Shaoqi, has become a strong contender for a top Central Military Commission (CMC) post after being appointed a political commissar of the People's Liberation Army's General Logistics Department.

Liu, 60, a prominent figure among the Communist Party's so-called princelings - descendants of high-ranking party officials - was previously a political commissar at the Academy of Military Sciences.

His new title was revealed for the first time in an article in the PLA Daily on Wednesday after he attended a ceremony to honour outstanding military officials on Tuesday.

Traditionally, one of the two military vice-chairmen of the CMC - the top decision-making body of the PLA - is a political commissar, who is responsible for the political and ideological education and organisation of the army and ensuring its loyalty to the Communist Party.

General Xu Caihou , 68, is the PLA's top political commissar and also a deputy head of the CMC, but he is expected to retire early next year.

With his new appointment - a position of real power when compared with his former post - Liu appears to have overtaken General Zhang Haiyang , 62, the political commissar of the Second Artillery Corps, and General Zhang Yang , 60, the political commissar of the Guangzhou Military Region, as the front runner to replace Xu.