China's top legislature on Friday appointed Huai Jinpeng as minister of education, replacing Chen Baosheng.

The decision was adopted at the closing meeting of the bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, which runs from Tuesday to Friday.

Huai, 58, was previously the Party chief and executive vice-president of the China Association for Science and Technology. He was named as the Party chief of the Ministry of Education last month.

He is taking on the role at a time when the country has intensified its regulation of the private tutoring sector and improved the quality of school education to reduce the excessive academic burden on students.