The country's top legislature yesterday approved the nomination of five new ministers, including Xie Xuren, former head of the State Administration of Taxation, as finance minister.

Former finance chief Jin Renqing, who had served in the post since 2003 and turned 63 last month, was removed from office.

The State Council yesterday appointed Jin as vice-president of its Development Research Center, and Xiao Jie as director of the State Administration of Taxation.

Other appointees included:

Geng Huichang, as minister of national security;

Ma Wen, as minister of supervision;

Yin Weimin, as minister of personnel; and

Zhang Qingwei, as minister in charge of the State Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND).

Vacating the top posts were Xu Yongyue (national security), Zhang Bolin (personnel) and Zhang Yunchuan (COSTIND), according to a bill passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

The former minister of supervision Li Zhilun died of illness at 65 in April.

President Hu Jintao signed presidential decrees of approval for the replacements.

Minister-level officials usually retire at the age of 65. Xu and Zhang Bolin are both 65 this year. The former COSTIND head Zhang Yunchuan will take up another post.

Xie Xuren, the new finance minister, was born in Ningbo of Zhejiang Province in 1947. He joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1980 and started work in 1967 at Zhenhai Machinery Factory in Ningbo.

Before he became taxation chief in 2003, Xie worked with the Zhejiang government, the Ministry of Finance, the Agricultural Development Bank of China and the State Economic and Trade Commission.

Ma Wen, 59, was deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CPC. She is a native of Wuqiao county in Hebei Province, and began to serve as member of the Standing Committee of CCDI in 1997.

Geng Huichang was born in 1951 and was the former vice-minister of national security.

Yin Weimin, 54, has been working in the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee and some government departments, mainly in personnel management, since 1978. He was appointed vice-minister of personnel in 2000.

The new head of COSTIND Zhang Qingwei acted as the general manager and Party chief of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) since 2001.

He had been the deputy head of the first institute of China Aerospace Industry Corporation as well.

Meanwhile, China News Service reported yesterday that Meng Xuenong, former mayor of Beijing, was named deputy Party secretary of Shanxi Provincial committee to replace Yu YouJun.

The appointment was announced by a vice-minister of the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the CPC at a meeting of major officials of the province, the report said.

The 58-year-old Meng resigned as Beijing mayor during the city's fight against the SARS outbreak in April 2003 after serving in the post for only three months.

Yu, 53, was mayor of Shenzhen, the country's first special economic zone, between June 2000 and May 2003, and vice-governor of Hunan Province before taking the post of acting governor and then governor of Shanxi in July 2005. It is learned that Yu will be appointed to another post, the report said.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2007)