LI RONGRONG (LIU JIE)	WANG YONG (CFP)

Li Rongrong retired as minister of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) on August 24. His successor, Wang Yong, is former minister of the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Li, 66, is already a year older than the mandatory retirement age for ministerial-level officials. He had held the position of SASAC minister since the watchdog of China's largest state-owned enterprises (SOEs) was established in 2003. Before that, he had been minister of the State Economic and Trade Commission since 2001. During his tenure at SASAC, Li actively promoted the market-oriented reform of SOEs to increase their competitive edge in the international market. Through mergers and closures, the number of SOEs under SASAC fell from 196 in 2003 to 123 in 2009.

Wang, 55, was vice minister of SASAC between 2003 and 2005 before assuming the post of deputy secretary general of the State Council, China's cabinet. In September 2008, he was appointed as minister of the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.