Chinese Premier Li Qiang nominated on Sunday Zheng Shanjie as head of the National Development and Reform Commission at the first session of the 14th National People's Congress.

Zheng, 61, previously the Party secretary of East China's Anhui province, was nominated to take over as head of China's top economic regulator, while several other senior economic officials, including central bank governor, were retained.

Yi Gang, 65, appointed as the governor of the People's Bank of China in 2018, was nominated to retain his post, according to a list of names submitted to the NPC. Wang Wentao, 58, was nominated to stay on as minister of commerce, with Liu Kun, 66, remaining as minister of finance.