China has appointed the former chief of the general office of the Central Military Commission as the new political commissar of the People's Liberation Army Navy, media reports said.

Lieutenant General Qin Shengxiang appeared on Wednesday in his new role at a ceremony in Qingdao, Shandong province, to send off a Navy flotilla for military exercises with Russia, CCTV reported.

Qin, 60, had been chief of the general office of the commission since December 2012. The commission is the top military ruling body in China, with President Xi Jinping as its chairman.