President Xi bestows military honors

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping has signed an order of commendation to honor the crew of the first aircraft carrier-based fighter jet.

According to the commendation order, a test squadron of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force were granted a honorary title for successfully conducting the take-off and landing tests of J-15 fighters on the Liaoning, China's sole aircraft carrier.

The order spoke highly of the squadron in the exploration and development of the J-15 fighter jet. Two test pilots of the squadron sacrificed their lives during the tests.

The commendation order urged all military personnel to learn from the squadron in cultivating combat-ready awareness, honing their skills and rooting out undesirable work styles.

Dai Mingmeng, the first J-15 pilot to have conducted a successful take-off and landing on the Liaoning, was granted a honorary title individually.

One unit and another 24 individuals were also awarded by commendation orders sighed by Xi,, in his role of chairman of the Central Military Commission, on Wednesday.

PLA Unit 91053 was awarded a third-class merit citation for outstanding contribution to major tasks.

Zheng Hui, senior engineer with the Headquarters of the General Staff; Zheng Yonghuang, chief engineer of the PLA 63620 Unit; Wang Hongli, commanding officer of the PLA 92474 Unit; Zou Jianguo, a pilot; and Cai Hongxia, chief head nurse of the 261 Hospital psychiatry department, were awarded first-class merit citations.

Liu Xiaoming, a late military instructor at PLA Information Engineering University was posthumously awarded a first-class merit citation.

Six individuals were awarded second-class merit citations and another 12 were awarded third-class merit citations.