Yu Zhengsheng was elected chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body on Monday afternoon.

Yu was elected at the fourth plenary meeting of the first session of the 12th CPPCC National Committee, becoming the eighth chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, after Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Deng Yingchao, Li Xiannian, Li Ruihuan and Jia Qinglin.

Formerly the secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Shanghai Municipal Committee, 67-year-old Yu was elected a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in November 2012 during the 18th Party congress.

Zhang Qingli was elected secretary-general of the 12th National Committee of the CPPCC. Zhang is a member of the 18th CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee.

Twenty-three vice chairpersons were also elected at the meeting.

Among the vice chairpersons was Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, who has been dubbed "China's Alan Greenspan" for his pivotal role in taking charge of China's monetary policies for the last decade.

The CPPCC is a patriotic united front organization of the Chinese people, serving as a key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, and a major symbol of socialist democracy.

The CPPCC consists of representatives of the CPC and non-Communist parties, personages without party affiliation, and representatives of people's organizations, ethnic minorities and various social strata.

Xinhua