Zhou Jinqiang, who has been President of the Chinese Weightlifting Association since 2017, is the country's new Deputy Sports Minister.

His appointment was announced by the Chinese Government on Friday.

Zhou has a Master's degree in law and has 22 years of experience in the governance and management of five Olympic sports.

He sits on the Board of the International Judo Federation, is an independent director of the International Boxing Association and has also worked in wrestling and taekwondo.

He began his career in sports administration in the Sports Ministry's policymaking and legislation department.

In terms of achievements, weightlifting is the strongest of the sports in which Zhou has worked.

China is by far the strongest nation in weightlifting and has won 32 Olympic gold medals in the sport this century, including a record seven at Tokyo last year under Zhou's leadership - its best result in history.

Zhou, 56, highlighted his management experience in a range of sports when he stood for the Presidency of the International Weightlifting Federation this year.

Along with eight other candidates, he withdrew before the votes were cast in Albania in June as it became a head-to-head contest between Yousef Al-Mana of Qatar and the winner Mohamed Jalood of Iraq.

In the build-up to the elections, which had been delayed by 15 months, Zhou spoke of the need to reform weightlifting, which has been removed from the programme for Los Angeles 2028 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Only by improving its governance and adopting a range of reforms can the IWF hope to get back on to the Olympic Games schedule.