China taps telecom executive as senior colonel for reserve force

BEIJING – China’s military appointed an executive from a state telecommunications company as a senior colonel in its reserve force, highlighting Beijing’s continued efforts to integrate civilian technology with its armed forces.

The Information Support Force of the People’s Liberation Army announced the enlistment of Li Chunran in a social media post last week, which was reported by People’s Daily and other state media on April 7. The PLA article featured photos of Senior Colonel Li dressed in military clothing and identified her employer as a state-owned enterprise, without naming it.

A Bloomberg review of records showed she is chairwoman of the Qinghai province branch of China Broadnet, the country’s fourth-largest telecoms operator.

The symbolic appointment underscores the role of state-owned enterprises in China’s defence strategy. Chinese President Xi Jinping has increasingly promoted military-civil fusion to support national security goals, although such ties have invited global scrutiny as Chinese companies expand their global presence.

The company and its Qinghai unit did not respond to a request for comment.

Operators such as China Mobile and China Telecom have been subjected to Western curbs over their defense links, which have been invoked to justify bans on their use in critical infrastructure and limits on market access due to security risks.

Broadnet, which has little presence abroad, has so far avoided Washington’s attention. The company holds exclusive rights to the 700MHz spectrum band in China, a resource highly valued for its wide coverage.

China Broadnet Qinghai Internet officially provides television and radio coverage for the north-western province. It also won a bid for a surveillance tech contract in Qinghai in March 2025, according to corporate records.

Senior Colonel Li encouraged dozens of technical specialists from her company to join the reserve troops alongside her, according to the PLA post, which praised her for boosting the cooperation between civilians and the military. Her enlistment appeared to be one of the first for China Broadnet, which was founded in 2014 initially as China Broadcasting Network.

The report indicated that she has been involved in cyber warfare for nearly 40 years since she started working in 1987, and that her enlistment boosts the synergy of the military-civil IT infrastructure. Incomplete corporate records show Senior Colonel Li had worked at one point as a representative of a film distributor in Qinghai.

Senior colonel is the highest officer rank in the Reserve Force, a military branch intended for rapid mobilisation during national emergencies or conflict. Officials have previously identified SOEs as a good source to recruit non-active-duty soldiers for China’s estimated 510,000-strong reserve force, partly because most of their staff is centralized and could be quickly mobilised. 

The Chinese government said reservist officers are usually drawn from veterans, local cadres and professionals with expertise matching defense needs. In 2013, the chairman of Jiangsu Yanghe Brewery was also given the title of senior colonel. BLOOMBERG