Boao Forum Reshuffle

Zhou Wenzhong (LU MINGXIANG)	Long Yongtu (JIANG ENYU)

Zhou Wenzhong, China's former Ambassador to the United States, was selected as Secretary General of the Boao Forum for Asia. He will take over his post from Long Yongtu in July.

The forum amended its charter, which stipulates a secretary general should serve no more than two terms of eight years, at this year's annual session. Long has been in the position since January 2003.

Zhou, 65, completed his five-year tenure as Chinese Ambassador to the United States in March. He had also served as assistant minister and vice minister of foreign affairs and ambassador to Barbados and to Antigua and Barbuda and Australia.

Long, 67, was China's chief negotiator for the resumption of its legal status as a contracting party to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and for its accession to the World Trade Organization in 1997-2001. He is also a former vice minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation.

Established in 2001, the Boao Forum is the first international organization with its permanent venue in China. It is committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to development goals.

Huijin Changes Head

Peng Chun (FILE)	Xie Ping (CFP)

Xie Ping was replaced by Peng Chun as general manager of the Central Huijin Investment Ltd. Peng is former vice president of the Communications Bank of China.

Huijin, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the China's $300-billion sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp., is authorized by the State Council to exercise rights and obligations as an investor in major state-owned financial enterprises on behalf of the state.

Xie, 55, was the first general manager of Huijin, which was founded in December 2003. During his tenure, he played a key role in carrying out share-holding reforms of state-owned commercial banks. Before taking the reins at Huijin, Xie had also held a number of senior positions at the People's Bank of China, including director general of the Financial Stability Department and director general of the Research Bureau. He is now deputy manager of the China Investment Corp.

Peng, 47, joined the Bank of Communications in January 1994. He had served as vice president of the bank since September 2004 and as executive director of the bank since August 2005.

School Killer Sentenced

Zheng Minsheng (ZHANG GUOJUN)

Zheng Minsheng, a former community doctor in southeastern Fujian Province, was sentenced to death on April 8 for murdering eight primary school students last month.

Zheng, 41, pleaded guilty to charges of "intentionally killing" the students on March 23 at the gate of the Nanping Experimental Elementary School. He launched the early morning attack as students were arriving for school.

Prosecutors said Zheng, who is not married, had been suffered failures in relationships and in his career, so he felt life was meaningless.

The police's investigation shows Zheng had no history of mental illness.

After he was arrested, Zheng confessed he had planned to kill 30 students. Besides killing eight, Zheng also injured five other children who are in recovery.

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