Zhang Ping was elected by the National People's Congress yesterday to head the mainland's top economic-planning agency.
The appointment of Mr Zhang, 62, as the director of the National Development and Reform Commission caught observers a little by surprise because, compared with the other contenders for the post, little is known about the former deputy secretary general of the State Council.
But it is not unusual for a cabinet deputy secretary general to be transferred to another ministerial position. What is more, Mr Zhang had once worked with the NDRC; he was a deputy head of the agency from August 2005 to January 2006.
His previous stint with the commission did not put him under the media's glare, even though the agency - which sets economic growth targets, approves investment projects, issues product licences and controls key commodity prices - has one of the highest profiles in the central government.
A Beijing-based financial analyst said that while at the NDRC, Mr Zhang was in charge of pricing issues and overseeing government control of prices of such commodities as oil, electricity and natural gas.
'Maybe China will rely more on pricing measures in macroeconomic controls after he assumes the position, or push ahead with pricing reforms,' the analyst said.
The commission is expected to concentrate on macro-management of the national economy and loosen some of its grip on 'micro' matters, such as granting approvals to some investment projects, under the ministry restructuring plan passed by the NPC last week.