Liu Dawei, a traditional Chinese painting artist, was elected as the President of the Chinese Artists Association (CAA) here on Friday, replacing Jin Shangyi.

A total of 421 delegates of fine artists across the country elected their new leaders at the seventh congress of the CAA that started on Thursday.

Liu, 63, former CAA executive vice president, was taught by renowned traditional Chinese painting artists such as Ye Qianyu, Jiang Zhaohe, Li Keran, Wu Zuoren and Huang Zhou, and excels in depicting life of minority groups in north China and historical events.

Dozens of his works have been exhibited in China and abroad. His "Playing Polo" was collected by ex-International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch.

Liu was elected the President of the International Association of Art, a non-governmental organization consisting of the most prestigious art organizations with the highest artistic level from over 120 member countries around the world, at its 16th general assembly held at east China's city of Hefei on Sept. 24, 2005.

The CAA conference agenda also included a summing-up of the previous session's work, sketch-out of CAA's work for its next five-year session, revision of the CAA's constitution and election of other leaders.