Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang was elected secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Friday at the end of the committee's five-day congress, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Zhang is a graduate of the Economics Department of the Kim Il Sung Comprehensive University in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He has steadily risen up the ranks, taking top Party posts in Jilin, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces between 1995 and 2007.

Zhang replaced Bo Xilai to become Chongqing's top official in March after Bo came under suspicion of being involved in serious disciplinary violations, the news agency reported.