Non-party member appointed science minister

A non-Communist Party member, Chen Zhu, has been named to the key post of health minister, the Financial Times reported. The present minister, Gao Qiang, is still vice-minister and secretary of the ministry's party committee, which places him higher in the hierarchy than Chen. He is the second non-party member to be made a member of the cabinet in the last two months. Wan Gang, who was made science minister in April, was the first non-party member in the cabinet in decades. Both appointees have international backgrounds: Chen was educated in France and Wan has lived and worked as an engineer in Germany.