Top legislature also names deputy chief of Supreme People's Procuratorate

China's top legislature named on Friday a new minister of justice and a deputy chief of the top procuratorate as the country continues to press forward on fortifying the rule of law.

Zhang Jun was named Minister of Justice to replace Wu Aiying, and Xu Xianming was appointed deputy chief procurator of the Supreme People's Procuratorate by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress at its bimonthly meeting.

Zhang, 60, formerly deputy head of China's top anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, is not new to the ministry and had served as vice-minister of justice from 2003 to 2005.

A native of Shandong province and a law school graduate, Zhang started his career at the Supreme People's Court in 1985 and has worked in the legal system since then.

At the top court, he served mainly as a criminal trial, and also conducted research. He joined the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in November 2012.

Wu, 65, has worked at the Justice Ministry for more than 10 years. The standard retirement age for a minister in China is 65.

Xu Xianming, a 59-year-old legal scholar, became deputy head of the NPC Law Committee in 2013 and later served as a senior official in the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

He has helped draft many laws, such as the draft provisions for a new, unified Chinese Civil Code, which will be submitted for reading at next month's NPC annual plenary meeting.

Changes of leaders at the top procuratorate are widely watched at this moment because a new chief procurator of the Supreme People's Procuratorate is expected to be elected by the NPC in March 2018.

Yang Weidong, a law professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, closely followed the personnel changes on Friday and said "a series of judicial challenges are waiting for our solutions".

Previously, procuratorates were responsible for prosecutions as well as probes of official corruption and dereliction of duty, but now China is piloting a supervisory system and setting up supervisory commissions. "I hope there will be more clarity on prosecutors' roles and better integrated judicial resources," Yang said.

The Ministry of Justice faces many tasks, such as pressing forward with judicial reforms, better protecting lawyers' rights and better managing of prisons, he said.

"No matter who heads these legal authorities, speeding up the reforms and pushing forward the rule of law continues unabated," Yang added.

On Friday, the NPC Standing Committee also appointed Huang Qifan, former mayor of Chongqing, as vice-chairman of the NPC Financial and Economic Affairs Committee.

Zhu Xiaodan, former Guangdong governor and Yang Xiong, former Shanghai mayor, were also named vice-chairmen of the committee.

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