Chen Zhenggao was elected governor of China's Liaoning Province on Monday at a session of the provincial legislature, while Zhang Wenyue became the northeast province's top legislator.

Chen, born in 1952 and a native of Haicheng City, Liaoning, was elected to the post at the first session of the 11th Liaoning Provincial People's Congress, the provincial legislative body.

The governor is responsible for the economic, political, personnel, environmental and foreign affairs issues of the province. He ranks second in the province behind the secretary of the provincial committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Zhang, born in 1944 in eastern Fujian Province, is also currently the CPC chief of Liaoning.

The rapidly developing coastal province has a population of around 42 million and covers an area of 148,000 square kilometers. As one of the country's old industrial base provinces, its gross domestic product is estimated to surpass one trillion yuan (138.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2007.

In 2006, the GDP of seven provinces or municipalities on the Chinese mainland, including Guangdong and Shanghai, exceeded one trillion yuan.

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2008)