Lin Xiangyang (Chinese: 林向阳; born October 1964) is a former general (shangjiang) of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) who served as the commander of Eastern Theater Command from 2022 to 2025.

Biography

Born in the town of Haikou, Fuqing, Fujian, in October 1964, he graduated from PLA Army Infantry Academy. He was deputy commander of the 31st Group Army before serving as commander of the 47th Group Army in 2016. He was commander of the newly founded 82nd Group Army in March 2017, and held that office until April 2019, when he was appointed commander of the 72nd Group Army. He became commander of Eastern Theater Command Ground Force in April 2020, and served until August 2021. In August 2021, he rose to become commander of Central Theater Command, replacing Yi Xiaoguang. In January 2022, he was assigned as commander of Eastern Theater Command.

He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general (zhongjiang) in July 2020 and general (shangjiang) in September 2021.

On October 17, 2025, the Ministry of National Defense announced that He was expelled from the CCP and the PLA for "serious violations of discipline and law".

Military offices
Preceded byZhang Lianyi[zh]Commander of the 47th Group Army 2016–2017Succeeded byPosition revoked
New titleCommander of the 82nd Group Army 2017–2019Succeeded byDuan Yingmin
Preceded byZheng ShoudongCommander of the 72nd Group Army 2019–2020Succeeded byDing Laifu
Preceded byXu QilingCommander of Eastern Theater Command Ground Force 2020–2021Succeeded byKong Jun
Preceded byYi XiaoguangCommander of Central Theater Command 2021–2022Succeeded byWu Yanan
Preceded byHe WeidongCommander of Eastern Theater Command 2022–2025Succeeded byYang Zhibin