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ROME, June 23-- Chinese vice minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Qu Dongyu was elected as new head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) here on Sunday. He is the first Chinese official to be chosen as the head of the FAO, in the over 70-year-long history of the UN food agency. SINGLE-ROUND VOTING His election took place during the ongoing 41 session of the FAO Conference, which has gathered representatives from all of the agency's 194 member states at the headquarters in the Italian capital. Qu received 108 votes out of 191 totally cast, obtaining the majority in one single round of voting. He won over other two candidates, namely French agronomist Catherine Geslain-Laneelle, a former executive director of the European Food Safety Authority, and Georgia's ex-minister of Agriculture Davit Kirvalidze. Two of the original five candidates -- one from India and one from Cameron -- had pulled out from the run in the days before the vote. Qu, 56-year-old, pledged to work at the best of his efforts "for the people and the farmers" in his four-year mandate. "As FAO's new Director-General, I will be committed to the original inspirations, mandate, and mission of the organization," Qu told the assembly immediately after being elected. "(I will) Take my responsibility at the supervision of conferences... in a rule-based approach, and I will uphold the principles of fairness, openness, justice, and transparency, remaining impartial and neutral." | 
