Beijing, Mar 15 (IANS): Li Keqiang became Chinese premier Friday while General Fan Changlong and General Xu Qiliang were endorsed as vice chairmen of the country's top military body at the annual parliamentary session.

Li was endorsed at the ongoing session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, reported Xinhua.

Nearly 3,000 NPC deputies voted to approve the nomination of Li, by newly-elected President Xi Jinping, as the candidate for premier at the ongoing parliament session.

He is the seventh premier since China was founded in 1949, replacing Wen Jiabao who had headed the State Council since 2003.

Li, born in 1955 in Anhui province, joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1976 and graduated from Peking University with law and economics degrees.

After working as provincial leader in Henan and Liaoning provinces, he was elected to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in 2007 and appointed vice premier in 2008.

Li was re-elected to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in November.

Fan Changlong and Xu Qiliang too were endorsed as vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of China at the annual parliamentary session Friday.

The deputies voted to approve the nomination by Xi Jinping, chairman of the CMC.

Chang Wanquan, Fang Fenghui, Zhang Yang, Zhao Keshi, Zhang Youxia, Wu Shengli, Ma Xiaotian and Wei Fenghe were appointed the CMC members after Xi's nomination was approved by the national lawmakers.

General Fan, born in May 1947, is currently a member of the Political Bureau of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a vice chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission.

General Xu, born in March 1950, is currently a member of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee and a vice chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission.

Zhou Qiang was elected president of the Supreme People's Court at the annual session.