Ministerial Reshuffle

Li Liguo (JIANG HONGJING)	Li Xueju (DING LIN)

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, approved on June 25 the appointment of Li Liguo as new Minister of Civil Affairs, replacing Li Xueju.

Li Liguo, 57, had previously served as vice minister of civil affairs since 2003. Before that, he worked in Tibet Autonomous Region for 10 years as secretary general and deputy secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party of China.

Li Xueju has reached the mandatory retirement age for ministerial officials of 65. He became minister of civil affairs in 2003 after a two-year tenure as vice minister of civil affairs. He has been appointed vice chairman of the Social and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body.

Guangdong Bank Chief

(FILE)

Morris Li, a veteran Citi banker, has been appointed as president and executive director of the Guangdong Development Bank.

Li joined Citibank in 1989 and had held several senior positions in Taiwan and Hong Kong. He became president of Citibank Taiwan Ltd. in late 2005. Under his leadership, Citibank Taiwan recorded fast growth and weathered the impact of the global financial crisis beginning in 2008.

Li replaced Michael Zink who took office as president of the Guangdong Development Bank after a consortium led by Citibank acquired an 85-percent stake in the Chinese mainland lender in December 2006. Dong Jianyue, Chairman of the Guangdong Development Bank, said he hoped Li's financial expertise would be a big help to facilitate planning to complete its initial public offerings by the end of the year.

Founded in 1988, the Guangdong Development Bank has more than 500 sales outlets in China, including 25 branches. As of the end of 2009, the lender had total assets of 666.5 billion yuan ($97.6 billion) with a net worth of 34.3 billion yuan ($5.1 billion).

Facing Bribery Charges

(CNSPHOTO)

Chen Shaoji, former top political advisor of south China's Guangdong Province, appeared in court on June 25 to face charges of accepting bribes.

Prosecutors told the Chongqing No.1 Intermediate People's Court that Chen, 64, had been using his position to promote the interests of other people in return for more than 29.59 million yuan ($4.35 million).

Chen became chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 2004 and was reelected in 2008. Before that, he had been head of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) for nine years since 1993 and served as deputy Party secretary of Guangdong from 1998 to 2004.

"The vote today is both an end and a beginning. Hong Kong will no longer be the same."

Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, welcoming the passage of the 2012 constitutional reform package by the region's legislature on June 24 and 25. Tsang said the package laid a solid foundation for the community to pursue detailed arrangements for universal suffrage according to the established timetable

"I don't think it is appropriate for us to have a one-size-fit-all bank levy."

Zheng Xiaosong, Director of the International Department of China's Ministry of Finance, suggesting countries should be allowed to decide independently on whether and how to introduce the EU-backed bank levy at a June 26 press conference on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Toronto, Canada

"We will not do things like pouring oil on the fire."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang, rejecting criticisms over China's stance on the Korean Peninsula situation at a regular news briefing on June 29

"Chinese society urgently needs a transformation to prevent recent attacks on children from recurring, requiring philanthropic efforts to find out and cultivate people's responsibility to society."

Wang Zhenyao, former Director of the Social Welfare and Charity Promotion Department of China's Ministry of Civil Affairs who has quit his official post to head a newly-founded civil philanthropic institute

"When the house was on fire, we all knew what to do: get a hose. Today it becomes more difficult to find common ground."

Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, speaking at the G20 summit in Toronto, where world leaders agreed to halve national budget deficits by 2013

"We've been waiting for 52 years. Today I've waited three hours, but I don't mind."

Alassane Sylla, a state electricity company worker in Guinea, before casting a vote in the June 27 presidential election, which was seen as the first democratic poll ending a dictatorial regime in the West African country since its independence in 1958