Wu presided over the PLAN during a time of expanding Chinese maritime interests and increased regional tensions.

The elder Wu later held important political positions during the Mao years, including mayor of Hangzhou and vice governor of Zhejiang Province.

[1][4] Wu enlisted in the PLA Navy in August 1964, and joined the Chinese Communist Party at the same time.

[2] He earned a degree in oceanography from the PLA Surveying and Mapping Academy in 1966, just before the Cultural Revolution swept China and largely shut down the country's higher education system.

In 1994, at age 49, he was appointed commandant of the Dalian Naval Academy, his alma mater and the PLA Navy's highest educational institution for surface vessel officers.

[1] Wu Shengli was appointed commander of the PLA Navy in August 2006, when a terminal illness forced his predecessor, Admiral Zhang Dingfa, to step down.

[3][2] In the run up to the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2012, some PLA-watchers expected that Wu would be named vice chairman of the CMC or defense minister.