Song Defu, the Communist Party secretary of Fujian province, was appointed chairman of Fujian People's Congress yesterday.
A Xinhua report said incumbent chairman Yuan Qitong, 70, had retired.
Mr Song, 55, was named party secretary of the southern province in December 2000. It is believed he will hold down both posts simultaneously.
Considered a rising star in political circles, Mr Song served both in the Communist Party Youth League and the PLA. He was a vice-director of the personnel department under the PLA's General Political Department before being appointed Minister of Personnel in 1993.
Most China-watchers consider him a protege of Vice-President Hu Jintao, who headed the Youth League in the early 1980s.
In recent years, Communist Party leaders have begun to promote more party secretaries to double up as chairmen of the provincial people's congresses. But Mr Song is probably the first party secretary of a major province to have both jobs.
