Rising star Sun Zhengcai named as party chief of Chongqing

The Communist Party has named rising star Sun Zhengcai as party chief of Chongqing, the epicentre of the nation's worst political turmoil in more than two decades.

Sources say Shanghai vice-mayor Tu Guangshao will soon team up with him, becoming the southwestern municipality's new mayor.

Sun, 49, became one of the Politburo's two youngest members when he was admitted to the powerful body after last week's party congress. The top post in Chongqing was previously held by Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang, who succeeded disgraced Bo Xilai earlier this year.

In a separate statement issued later yesterday, Xinhua said Shanghai mayor Han Zheng would succeed Yu Zhengsheng as Shanghai's party chief. Yu and Zhang were made members of the party's supreme Politburo Standing Committee last week.

Xinhua said that Zhao Leji, who became the party's personnel chief on Monday, flew to Chongqing and Shanghai to announce the appointments yesterday. The appointment was made after the party's Central Committee "took all things into consideration", Xinhua reported.

Sun, previously party boss of the northeastern province of Jilin and a former agriculture minister, is considered a contender for a top leadership post in the next 10 years.

Analysts said that running Chongqing had become an eye-catching role and a touchstone for judging the performance of potential top leaders.