BEIJING: China on Friday appointed only its second non-Communist Party minister since the 1970s, state media reported. A French-trained scientist Chen Zhu, aged 54, was given the post as the country's new health minister, Xinhua news agency said in a short report.

The appointment comes just months after another non-communist, Wan Gang, was given the science and technology post.

Wan told reporters this month his appointment was a “very important step in the development of China's political system and greater democracy.” His appointment in April made him the first minister in decades to come from outside the Communist Party, which has monopolised political power since its victory over Nationalist forces in 1949.

Chen has spent most of his career in Shanghai, working in hospitals and institutes on blood-related diseases and molecular immunology, according to Xinhua.

His former positions include director of the Chinese Human Genome Centre in Shanghai and Shanghai Institute of Haematology at Ruijin Hospital.

He was vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences before his appointment as health minister.—AFP