Li Shenglin, former vice-minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, was appointed minister of communications by China's legislature Thursday.

Li, 59, replaces Zhang Chunxian, who was just appointed secretary of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Li served in a tractor plant in Tianjin, north China, after graduation from college in 1970. He became deputy secretary-general of the Tianjin municipal government in 1983 and mayor of Tianjin 15 years later. In 2002, he was appointed vice-minister in charge of the then State Economic and Trade Commission, and vice-minister in charge of the State Development and Reform Commission in 2003.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2005)