On Friday, China appointed a new chairman for the nation's dominant space contractor.

Chen Mingbo, 55, a native of Zhejiang province, was named chairman and Party chief of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, a State-owned conglomerate and one of the world's largest aerospace companies, at a meeting at the company's Beijing headquarters, according to a brief statement from CASC.

His appointment was announced by an official from the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the statement said without elaborating.

Having a doctorate in science, Chen started his career in 1993 at the Shanghai Institute of Space Power-Sources, now part of CASC's Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology.

He moved through the academic ranks at the institute and became director of the research body in the early 2000s.

In 2010, Chen was promoted to the post of deputy head of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology.

In 2014, he became deputy governor of the city's Pudong New Area, an economic powerhouse in China.

In 2016, Chen was named head of the Shanghai Municipal Commission for Economy and Information Technology.

He was promoted to deputy secretary-general of the city government in 2018 and remained in this position until 2022 when he was transferred to the southwestern municipality of Chongqing.

In Chongqing, Chen was a high-ranking member of the city's Party committee and executive deputy mayor before receiving the latest appointment.

Before Chen, the chairman and Party chief of CASC was Wu Yansheng, who spent his entire career at the company.