BEIJING - The State Council, or China's Cabinet, on Tuesday announced a number of new appointments of officials in government departments and organizations.

Zhai Qing was appointed deputy minister of environmental protection; Mei Kebao was appointed deputy director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine; and Zhang Junkuo and Zhang Laiming were appointed deputy directors of the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Niu Zhijun was appointed deputy head of the China Earthquake Administration. Xu Ming was appointed deputy director of the State Administration of Grain, but allowed to enjoy benefits due to being a vice-ministerial level official.

Yang Wei was appointed as President of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and six others, Shen Yan, Yao Jiannian, He Minghong, Liu Congqiang, Gao Wen and Gao Ruiping, were appointed vice-presidents of the foundation.

Chen Qiufa was removed from his posts of deputy minister of industry and information technology as well as head of three other bodies, namely the China National Space Administration, the China Atomic Energy Authority and the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

Zhang Lijun was removed from the post of deputy minister of environmental protection; Huang Jiefu was removed from the post of deputy health minister; and Duan Shijie was removed from the post of deputy director of the General Administration of Sport.

Hou Yunchun and Lu Zhongyuan will no longer hold the post of deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council and Liu Yuchen was removed from the post of deputy head of the China Earthquake Administration.

Both Liu Jianxin and Hanibati Shabukai were removed from their posts of deputy commander of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.