Fan was born in
Xian County,
Hebei, in 1948. He enlisted in the
People's Liberation Army (PLA) in December 1970, and joined the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October 1973. He served in the
Beijing Military Region since December 1970, and was eventually promoted to director of Political Department of the in April 1996. He attained the rank of
major general (
shaojiang) in July 1998. In July 1998, he became deputy head of Organization Division of the
People's Liberation Army General Political Department, and was appointed president of the PLA Newspaper Agency in November 2001. He was recalled to the People's Liberation Army General Political Department as secretary-general in January 2003. He was appointed director of Political Department of the
People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in December 2005, and was admitted to member of the Standing Committee of the CCP PLAN Committee, the navy's top authority. In July 2008, he was promoted to become deputy political commissar of the PLAN and secretary of Discipline Inspection Commission, a position he held until August 2011. He was promoted to the rank of
rear admiral (
shaojiang) in December 2005 and
vice admiral (
zhongjiang) in July 2007. ==References==