Zhang Chunxian, a former minister of communications, was elected secretary of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Monday.

Zhang, 53, was elected to the post at the first session of the ninth CPC Hunan Provincial Committee.

Zhang, a native of Yuzhou City in central China's Henan Province, graduated from Harbin Institute of Technology in Heilongjiang Province with a major in management science and engineering.

Between October 2002 and December 2005, he worked as China's communications minister.

He was appointed secretary of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the CPC in December 2005.

Zhang is also a member of the 16th CPC Central Committee.

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2006)