Zhang Baoshun was elected secretary of north China's Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Tuesday.

Zhang was elected to the post at the first session of the 9th CPC Shanxi Provincial Committee held in Taiyuan.

Zhang, of Han nationality and born in 1950 in Qinhuangdao city of north China's Hebei Province, joined the CPC in 1971.

He received a Master's degree in Economics at Jilin University in 1992.

He once served as a secretary of the Secretariat of Chinese Communist Youth League's Central Committee and vice president of Xinhua News Agency.

He is now an alternate member of the 16th CPC Central Committee and member of the 14th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Zhang has served as secretary of the CPC Shanxi Provincial Committee since July 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2006)