New leaders appointed to fill top positions

The official appointment of leaders to China's restructured State Oceanic Administration was unveiled on Monday, the latest personnel change among top leaders in some provinces and central government departments.

Liu Cigui will serve as Party chief of the SOA, and Meng Hongwei will act as deputy Party chief, with Meng concurrently holding the post of vice-minister of public security, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The two posts were unveiled by Wang Ercheng, vice-head of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, during a meeting held on Monday.

The SOA's restructuring was carried out by the new cabinet to implement maritime law enforcement and more efficiently safeguard the country's sovereignty over territorial waters.

Administered by the Ministry of Land and Resources, the SOA integrates functions of China Marine Surveillance, the coast guard forces of the Public Security Ministry, the fisheries law enforcement command of the Agriculture Ministry and maritime anti-smuggling police of the General Administration of Customs.

The new lineup of China's State Council, nominated by newly elected Premier Li Keqiang, was endorsed by lawmakers at the national legislative session, which concluded on Sunday.

Lawmakers also endorsed Li's nominations of ministers, governor of the central bank and auditor-general.

A new round of personnel changes will happen in some provinces as well as some departments of the State Council because their leaders were appointed to higher positions in the cabinet during the two sessions.

Li Jianhua has been appointed Party chief of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, replacing Zhang Yi, the CPC Central Committee announced on Tuesday.

Li, a native of Gucheng county in Hebei province, was born in September 1954 in Beijing. He is currently a member of the CPC Central Committee.

Since December 2000, Li had served as head of the Organization Department of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and then deputy head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

Zhang Yi is now Party chief of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

Zhang was appointed Party chief of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region in July 2010 and was re-elected in June 2012.

On Tuesday, the official appointment of Qinghai province leaders was also announced by the CPC Central Committee.

Luo Huining has been appointed Qinghai Party chief, replacing Qiang Wei, according to a statement of the CPC Central Committee.

Prior to the appointment, Luo had served as governor of Qinghai since January 2010.

Luo, born in October 1954, is a native of Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province. He is a member of the 18th CPC Central Committee.

On Tuesday, the official micro blog of a department of the Communist Youth League of China said the CPC Central Committee appointed its leader.

Qin Yizhi, was appointed as the First Secretary of the Communist Youth League of China, replacing Lu Hao, the micro blog said.

Xinhua contributed to this story.