Wheelchair-bound woman writer Zhang Haidi on Thursday was elected as new chairperson of the China Disabled Persons Federation (CDPF) at the organization's fifth national congress.

She replaced Deng Pufang, who has in the past decade led the organization that represents nearly 83 million disabled people in China.

Deng Pufang will serve as the CDPF's honorable chairman, the congress decided.

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2008)