Xian Hui, 58, was elected chairwoman of northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region on Monday by the region's people's congress, its top legislature, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xian, who holds a doctorate in management, is an alternate member of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. Xian had been working in neighboring Gansu province since 1982. She became Gansu's deputy governor last year before assuming the post of deputy Party chief of Ningxia in June.

In Gansu, Xian worked for 18 years in various roles at the province's United Front Work Department, which manages relations with non-Party individuals and organizations, until she became a deputy chief of the department in 2000.

Xian's predecessor, Liu Hui, 57, was appointed deputy Party chief of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission in July.

Ningxia had a population of 6.7 million by the end of last year, ranking third from last in population on the Chinese mainland.

wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/20/2016 page3)