(FILE)

Xu Qin was elected mayor of Shenzhen, the booming city in south China's Guangdong Province, on June 5. He replaced acting mayor Wang Rong, who was appointed secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China in April.

Xu, 49, is the youngest mayor of Shenzhen since the city was established in 1979. He received Ph.D in business administration from Hong Kong Polytechnic University in November 2004.

A former official with the National Development and Reform Commission, Xu was promoted to deputy director of the Hi-tech Industry Department of the commission in May 2003 and director of the department in July 2005.

At his first press conference after election, Xu said he was confident the city's gross domestic product would top 1.5 trillion yuan ($220 billion) in five years and pledged more investment in improving people's wellbeing.