Zhang Dejiang elected CPC chief of Chongqing

CHONGQING - Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang was elected secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Friday at the end of the committee's five-day congress.

Zhang, born in November 1946, is a native of Tai'an, Liaoning province. He has been a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee since 2002 and served as a vice-premier since 2008.

Zhang is a graduate of the Economics Department of the Kim Il Sung Comprehensive University in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He has steadily risen up the ranks, taking top Party posts in Jilin, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces between 1995 and 2007.

Zhang replaced Bo Xilai to become Chongqing's top official in March after Bo came under suspicion of being involved in serious disciplinary violations. Bo's membership of the CPC's Central Committee and its Political Bureau has been suspended. The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has filed his case for investigation.