On July 2nd the National People's Congress Standing Committee announced the appointment of Chen Baosheng as minister of education. He replaces the former minister Yuan Guiren, who is 66 years old and therefore has reached the retirement age of 65 for ministerial ranked officials.

Unlike Yuan, Chen Baosheng (60) does not have a strong education background. Mr Chen was born in Gansu and spent his early career in the province, eventually becoming party secretary (the highest-ranking official) of the provincial capital Lanzhou. In 2008 he was promoted to a position in Beijing as vice president of the Central Party School, and in 2013 he became the party secretary and vice president of the National Academy of Governance. Both of these institutions are responsible for training government officials.

At the same time, a number of leadership changes in provincial-level governments were also announced. These include the appointment of Li Qiang as the party secretary of Jiangsu province and Che Jun as the deputy secretary of Zhejiang province.

Sources:

http://www.china.org.cn/china/2016-07/03/content_38800567.htm (English, brief announcement)

http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2016/07-01/7923641.shtml (Chinese, more details)