BEIJING - China's top legislature on Friday appointed Guo Shengkun as minister of public security, replacing Meng Jianzhu.

Guo's previous post was party chief of South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Guo, 58, holds a doctoral degree in management and had long worked in the country's nonferrous metal sector.

Guo's predecessor Meng Jianzhu is currently a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, a state councilor, and secretary of the Committee of Political and Legal Affairs under the CPC Central Committee.