Shen Yiqin, former deputy Party chief of Guizhou province, was appointed vice-governor and acting governor of the southwestern province on Wednesday.

The decision was announced during a meeting of the 12th Standing Committee of the Guizhou provincial People's Congress in Guiyang. The meeting also accepted the resignation of former governor Sun Zhigang.

Sun was appointed as the province's Party chief in July. His predecessor, Chen Miner, was moved to Chongqing as Party chief.

Shen, 57, was born in Zhijin county, Guizhou province. She graduated from Guizhou University in 1982. She majored in history.

A member of the Bai ethnic group, Shen had spent most of her career in Guizhou.

In December 2001, she was named deputy Party chief of Qiannan prefecture in Guizhou, and in 2003 became deputy Party chief of Tongren city.

In 2007, she was named publicity chief of Guizhou and a member of the Standing Committee of the Guizhou Committee of the CPC. She was named vice-governor in 2012 and deputy Party chief in 2015.

Guizhou, one of the least-developed provinces in China, has been developing quickly in the last three years. GDP reached 1 trillion yuan ($153 billion) in 2015 and has kept growing since.

Shen is expected to be appointed governor by the plenary session provincial People's Congress.