Cao Qing (Chinese: 曹清; born December 9, 1952) is a lieutenant general of the People's Liberation Army of China.
From 2007 to 2015 he served as director of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Security Bureau (CSB), in charge of the security of top Chinese leaders.
He once served as a bodyguard to Marshall Ye Jianying and took part in the coup which ousted the Gang of Four in 1976 after the death of Mao.
He was appointed deputy commander of the Beijing Military Region in March 2015.
[2] Cao has been an alternate member of the 17th and the 18th Central Committees of the Chinese Communist Party.