Younger officials on the rise

Two 46-year-old officials yesterday became China's youngest provincial-level Party chiefs as the country announced major leadership reshuffles ahead of the 18th Party Congress in 2012.

Former Hebei governor Hu Chunhua and ex-minister of agriculture Sun Zhengcai, both born in 1963, took the Party chief posts in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Jilin province respectively.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) also announced that Sun Chunlan, deputy chairwoman and Party secretary of All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), replaced Lu Zhangong, 57, as secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee.