New Science Leader

(CFP)

Bai Chunli, a well-known chemist and leading nano-scientist, has succeeded Lu Yongxiang as the new president and Party secretary of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China's major research institute for natural sciences.

Bai, 58, graduated from the Department of Chemistry of Peking University in 1978. He received his master's degree in 1981 and Ph.D. degree in 1985, both from the CAS Institute of Chemistry.

After being a post-doctorate and visiting scholar at the California Institute of Technology of the United States for two years, Bai returned to China in 1987 and continued his research at the CAS Institute of Chemistry. Bai was vice president of CAS from 1996 to 2004, and became its executive vice president in 2004.

Gome's New Chairman

(CFP)

Zhang Dazhong, founder of Dazhong Electronics, was appointed chairman and non-executive director of Gome, the largest home appliance retailer in China. Zhang's appointment was announced soon after the resignation of his predecessor Chen Xiao.

Zhang, 63, is seen as the right person to helm Gome. The company's former Chairman Huang Guangyu was sentenced to jail for 14 years on charges of illegal business dealings, insider trading and corporate bribery. With Zhang's appointment, the company has finally ended the struggle for control of Gome between imprisoned founder Huang and his successor Chen.

Zhang sold all his shares of Dazhong Electronics to Gome for 3.65 billion yuan ($555.8 million) in 2007. After the sale, Zhang was out of the public eye. As a veteran of the household electrical appliances industry, Zhang was chosen as Chen's successor in order to stabilize Gome's situation and improve its chances for future development.

Richest Man

(CFP)

Li Yanhong, founder and CEO of Baidu Inc., a Chinese-language Internet search provider, has become the richest man on the Chinese mainland. According to the 2011 Forbes list of the wealthiest people in the world, Li has total assets of $9.4 billion and ranks 95th in the world. He is the first Chinese mainlander to be listed among the world's 100 richest people.

Li, 42, received a master's degree in computer science from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1994. After working at search engine pioneer Infoseek in Silicon Valley in the United States, he returned to China and founded Baidu in 1999. NASDAQ-listed Baidu has more than 70 percent of the Chinese market and is the third largest independent search engine in the world.

A total of 115 entrepreneurs on the mainland of China are on the list this year, while the number was 64 last year.

"I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep grief for the Japanese people who lost their lives in this disaster and express my sincere condolences to the entire Japanese people."

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in a press conference after the closing meeting of the annual National People's Congress (NPC) of China in Beijing on March 14, three days after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake in Japan

"Corruption in the coking coal industry in Shanxi Province is a reality. We will investigate the situation deeply and severely crack down on it. Now, about 30 billion yuan ($ 4.6 billion) in corruption-related funds have been recovered."

Yuan Chunqing, Party chief of Shanxi Province, in a press conference at the NPC annual session in Beijing on March 10

"It is still not suitable to abolish the death penalty for corruption crimes."

Gao Mingxuan, renowned jurist of China, in an interview with the Beijing Times

"Protecting trademarks is crucial to carrying out our national strategy on intellectual property rights protection and promoting innovation. China will further clamp down on trademark violations and strengthen supervision over online shopping, targeting fake goods."

Fu Shuangjian, Deputy Director of China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce, in a press conference at the NPC annual session on March 13

"Our strategy is working...They (Afghan security forces) are now ready to gradually assume lead responsibility for the security of their nation and their people."

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO General Secretary, speaking at a meeting of NATO defense ministers held in Brussels, Belgium, on March 11