Military ribbons within the People's Republic of China only reflect the wearer's echelon and time in service. Consequently, Xu's ribbon rack, being seven rows high, indicates he is at the Central Military Commission (CMC) level, the gold ribbon with a single star indicates he is a member of the CMC, and the rest of his ribbons indicate his time in service through a combination of one, two, three, and four-year service ribbons totaling forty-six years.[2]