Personnel changes at ministerial-level organizations began immediately after the National People’s Congress had approved a new cabinet for the next five years. The central government appointed Wang Chen as the minister for the Information Office of the State Council. He replaces Cai Wu, who was made minister of culture at the Congress meeting last month. Such a personnel change was the largest reshuffle of its kind in a decade, according to an unidentified source quoted in the South China Morning Post.

The appointment of Wang, former publisher of People’s Daily, is considered as the most crucial personnel change at the ministerial level. As the director of the Information Office, Wang will be the top government spokesman. His department is also in charge of mainland and foreign media, as well as all kinds of major governmental press briefings.

A member of the 16th and 17th CPC Central Committees, Wang worked at Guangming Daily for 26 years before being appointed as the deputy head of the publicity department of the CPC Central Committee in 2000. In 2001, Wang worked at People’s Daily as its editor-in-chief and was promoted to head of the group the following year.

Other personnel changes include the appointment of Hu Chunhua (now first secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China) as new deputy secretary of the Hebei provincial committee, and the replacing of Lai Tung-kwok by Simon Peh Yun-lu, as the director of Immigration effective April 7.

More appointments and personnel changes of government officials are expected to take place after the State Council reshuffle.