On Friday, Song Zhiyong was appointed as the new head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, replacing Feng Zhenglin.

Song, born in 1965, graduated from a military flight academy.

He joined Air China (later merged with other air companies to form the China National Aviation Corp) in 1987 and became a pilot. He then developed his career path at the company until becoming its chairman in late 2020.

Feng, born in 1957, has reached 65, the standard retirement age for ministerial-level officials in China.