New sports minister is senior Party official from Beijing

Gou Zhongwen, a senior Party official from Beijing who has leadership experience in the information technology and education sectors, has been appointed as China's new sports minister, it was announced on Monday.

Gou, who was deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China's Beijing municipal committee until his appointment, will lead the General Administration of Sport of China, the country's central sports governing body, following the retirement of his predecessor, Liu Peng. The appointment was announced after a meeting of the sports body on Monday.

Liu, who took office as sports chief in 2004, recently turned 65, the retirement age set for ministerial-level officials.

Liu oversaw the rise of China's sports to competitive prowess in multiple events, such as table tennis, badminton and diving, in three summer and three winter Olympic Games. These included the 2008 Beijing Olympics, at which China won 51 gold medals - the most of any nation there.

Gou, 59, who has an academic background in electronic science and technology, became the deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2002.

He was appointed as vice-mayor of Beijing in 2008 and was in charge of areas including education and technology.

In April, Gou became deputy Party chief of Beijing.

His experience related to sports management includes a stint as head of the leading group for Beijing's campus soccer development.