Meng was born in
Chongqing, in September 1944. He secondary studied at Chongqing Jianshan High School () and graduated from the PLA Military Academy. He enlisted in the
People's Liberation Army (PLA) in September 1961, and joined the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in November 1964. He served in the
Kunming Military District from July 1964 to November 1969 and the 94th Regiment of the 32nd Division of the
PLA Ground Force from November 1969 to September 1980. He led the regiment to fame in the
Sino-Vietnamese War. He was commander of the
14th Group Army in September 1985, and held that office until September 1988. He became vice president of the PLA Kunming Army College in July 1989, concurrently serving as head of the Training Department. He became deputy commander of the
Guizhou Military District in August 1992, and served until June 1996, when he was promoted to become commander of the
Tibet Military District. In June 2000, he was admitted to member of the Standing Committee of the CCP
Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee, the region's top authority. He took up the post of deputy commander of the
Chengdu Military Region which he held from July 2001 to December 2007, although he remained commander of the Tibet Military District until September 2004. He was promoted to the rank of
major general (
shaojiang) in September 1988 and
lieutenant general (
zhongjiang) in July 2002. ==References==