China's parliament elects new state leadership (2)

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The plenary meeting also elected leaders and members of the 12th NPC Standing Committee, the permanent organ of the country's parliament.

Zhang Dejiang, 66-year-old member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, was elected chairman of the NPC Standing Committee.

The 13 elected vice chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee were Li Jianguo, Wang Shengjun, Chen Changzhi, Yan Junqi, Wang Chen, Shen Yueyue, Ji Bingxuan, Zhang Ping, Qiangba Puncog, Arken Imirbaki, Wan Exiang, Zhang Baowen and Chen Zhu.

Wang Chen also held the post of secretary-general of the NPC Standing Committee.

According to the rules of election and appointment adopted at the NPC session, the elections of chairman, vice-chairpersons and secretary-general of the 12th NPC Standing Committee, president and vice-president of the PRC, and chairman of the CMC are non-competitive.

The elections of the 12th NPC Standing Committee members are competitive. A total of 161 members were elected out of 174 candidates, bringing the 7-percent margin in the previous election five years ago to 8 percent.

The NPC deputies also adopted a massive cabinet restructuring and streamlining plan which aimed to reduce bureaucracy and make the government more efficient.