Civil affairs minister appointed

Tang Dengjie, 57, a former vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, was appointed minister of civil affairs by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, on Monday.

He has previously held posts in companies and politics.

Tang was elected as a vice-mayor of Shanghai in 2003, when he was 38 years old, becoming the youngest person to hold the post. He served as vice-mayor for eight years.

Born and raised in Shanghai, Tang started his professional life after graduating from Tongji University in 1986, working as a technician at SAIC Volkswagen Automotive, a Sino-German joint venture.

Eleven years later, he was promoted to vice-president of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.

In 2001, Tang began working in politics, serving as the head of Shanghai's economic council.

Ten years later he became president of China South Industries Group Corp.

He served as vice-minister of industry and information technology from May 2017.

Tang then served as governor of South China's Fujian province from 2018 to 2020 before taking the post at the NDRC.

Separately, Chen Xu, 58, former Party chief of Tsinghua University, has become deputy head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the department's website said.

Chen had studied and worked at Tsinghua since 1981. She gained her bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees at its department of engineering, and then took up a teaching post at the university.

Chen later served in different posts at the university, including deputy head of its students' affairs council and Tsinghua's vice-president. She was appointed the university's Party chief in 2013.