Vice-Premier Wu Yi was appointed Saturday to serve concurrently as the Minister of Health, replacing Zhang Wenkang, who had submitted his resignation.
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the national legislature, voted for the replacement, which was proposed by Premier Wen Jiabao.
The appointment came as the latest effort of China to contain the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic.
(Xinhua News Agency April 26, 2003)