The party concluded its 11th National Congress on the same day.

The national congress elected its new central committee composed of 282 members. It also examined a work report by the CDL's 10th Central Committee and approved a draft amendment to its constitution.

When addressing the first plenary meeting of the CDL's 11th Central Committee, Zhang said on Thursday that the new leadership would put promoting the country's scientific development top of its agenda when its members participate in, and deliberate on, state affairs.

Zhang told CDL members, mainly senior and leading intellectuals in the fields of culture, education, science and technology, to use their wisdom and focus on issues including adjustment of economic structure, building China into an innovative country, promoting cultural development, and educational reform.

Zhang, 66, joined the CDL in 1986. He served as vice agriculture minister from 2000 to 2008, and became executive vice chairman of the CDL central committee in 2007.

He is also a Standing Committee member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's national political advisory body.

Zhang's predecessor was Jiang Shusheng, who had served as CDL chief since 2005.

The China Democratic League was secretly established on March 19, 1941, in Chongqing, and was then named the China Democratic Political League. In September 1944, the China Democratic Political League held a national congress in Chongqing and decided to rename itself the China Democratic League.

It is one of the eight non-Communist parties in China that participate in state affairs under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Under the multi-party cooperation system, the CPC and non-Communist parties work together and supervise each other.