appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Liu Zhen

Beijing has confirmed that a 23-year-old paratrooper died in a training accident in northwestern China, a revelation that follows recent reports of several accidents and deaths in its military.
State media said on Sunday that Xia Shiyuan, of Huaiyuan county in Anhui province, was involved in an incident shortly after leaving an airborne aircraft during a scheduled training exercise in Golmud, Qinghai province, on the morning of May 27.
Xinhua said Xia fell to the ground and was taken to hospital, where he died at 12.32pm.
In June, Xia – who was born in 2002 and joined the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in 2021 – was designated a martyr and posthumously awarded a third-class merit citation, according to a statement by Huaiyuan county authorities.
His ashes were returned to his hometown on August 8 and he was buried on Monday at Huaiyuan Martyrs’ Cemetery, where local authorities received him with full honours, local media said.




Xia’s death was one of two parachute-related incidents on consecutive days that were recently made public by the PLA.
The official PLA Daily last month said air force officer Wang Rui rescued an unconscious colleague during a separate parachute training exercise on May 28 after their parachutes became entangled in mid-air. Wang was awarded a third-class merit for his action.
The PLA has not publicly revealed the cause of either incident.
As China pushes to modernise its armed forces, it has intensified training in new tactics and equipment to ensure its troops can adapt to the demands of modern warfare.
When President Xi Jinping inspected the Airborne Corps in 2024, he urged them to “strengthen basic training and conduct intensive practices in difficult and key areas, while carrying out comprehensive, integrated and scenario-based exercises under complex and challenging conditions”.
The recent incident reports come amid a series of disclosures about military accidents and fatalities, after such incidents have traditionally had limited or much delayed public acknowledgement in China.
Last month, local media said two pilots, including a high-ranking tactical commander, were killed during frontline flight training exercises in June.
One was 38-year-old Fang Ming, a senior colonel who served as a tactical commander under the PLA Southern Theatre Command Naval Aviation unit, and the other was Shi Shaoyong, 25, a first lieutenant also from the Southern Theatre Command Navy.
They both died on June 10 and were recognised as martyrs, according to public records. It is not clear whether they died on the same aircraft or the same mission.


Beijing boosts Taiwan-facing firepower with brigade-level 155mm howitzer deployment

China-Egypt joint drills a show of Beijing’s military reach

Export potential? Chinese YY-20 refuels Egyptian Rafale in cross-platform drill

China tests GJ-21 stealth drone as Sichuan Type 076 warship carries out sea trials

China’s military drills

Chinese paratrooper killed in Qinghai exercise as Beijing acknowledges casualties

Chinese media say paratrooper Xia Shiyuan, from Huaiyuan county in eastern Anhui province, encountered an emergency shortly after leaving his mid-air aircraft during a scheduled exercise in Golmud, Qinghai province, on May 27. Photo: Weibo/合新闻

Chinese test pilot who landed plane safely after cabin leak given first-class merit award

PLA Navy test pilot Yang Yong is a much decorated officer. Photo: CCTV

Who are the officers filling the big shoes left behind in PLA anti-corruption drive?

Illustration: Henry Wong


President Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission, poses with CMC vice-chairman Zhang Shengmin (front row), and the newly promoted Zhang Shuguang (back row, left) and Wang Gang, in Beijing on July 3. Photo: Xinhua 

Air Force Lieutenant General  Chen Demin (left) and Vice-Admiral Xiong Zhaoyuan appear to have taken charge of the CMC’s Political Work Department. Photo: Handout

General Yang Zhibin heads the Eastern Theatre Command. Photo: Handout

Taiwan’s William Lai rehearses late-night emergency escape during military drill

Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te (left) wears a bulletproof vest and helmet as he walks through a tunnel to a command centre in Taipei on August 5 as part of the Han Kuang military exercise. Photo: AFP / Presidential Office of Taiwan

William Lai enters an armoured vehicle in Taipei, Taiwan on Wednesday as part of the evacuation drill during the island’s Han Kuang military exercise. Photo: AFP / Presidential Office of Taiwan

Why China’s military is laser-focused on ‘disruptive’ technologies

Illustration: Henry Wong

PLA strategist Qiao Liang says militaries are “moving towards building weapons for the wars they expect to fight”. Photo: Handout

Xi Jinping urges Chinese armed forces to ‘strengthen military application’ of AI

President Xi Jinping reviews troops during a massive military parade that showcased the PLA’s latest arsenal, in Beijing on September 3, 2025. Photo: Xinhua

News

China

Military

Death of 23-year-old was one of two parachute-related incidents in consecutive months recently made public by the PLA


Death of 23-year-old was one of two parachute-related incidents in consecutive months recently made public by the PLA.


China’s military

China's military weapons

Shi Zhiyong

Xi Jinping

Chinese paratrooper killed in Qinghai exercise as Beijing acknowledges casualties

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Death of 23-year-old was one of two parachute-related incidents in consecutive months recently made public by the PLA

Death of 23-year-old was one of two parachute-related incidents in consecutive months recently made public by the PLA