Tie Ning was elected as the first female president of the Chinese Writers Association (CWA) on Sunday. The 49-year-old writer becomes the younger-ever CWA president.

Tie becomes the third president in the 57-year history of the association, succeeding 53-year-old Mao Dun as president, who replaced Ba Jin, one of the nation's literary giants of the past century, at 80.

Tie Ning said in an interview earlier this year she is still a writer and will focus on her works. "To be an official means having to pay a lot, but it's the happiest moment to be needed," she said,

The vice president of CWA, Tan Rushi, praised Tie as a nice person, saying she is able to guarantee the solidification and stable development of cultural circles.

Famous writer Sun Xiaoyun wrote on his blog, "The time of giant personas is ending and the grassroots age is coming. Tie Ning is a real writer, and she can unite people together."

The media commented on Tie's election, saying "Compared to the two previous presidents of CWA, they either have too many positions with heavy social responsibilities or are too old to meet people's expectations. People hope Tie Ning will usher in a new era."

Tie published her first story in 1975. She won national acclaim in 1982 for her prize-winning short story "Ah, Xiangxue," about an adventure of a country girl who yearns to know about the outside world and gets on a train by mistake.

Her first short novel "The Red Shirt Without Buttons" and short story "June's Big Topic" won her another two national awards in 1984. Since 1980, Tie has published a number of collections of short stories and novels.

Her works mainly depict the lives of Chinese women.

(CRI.com November 15, 2006)