HONG KONG, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Li Yihuang, chairman and president of Jiangxi Copper Company Limited , the top producer of refined copper in China, has been appointed vice governor of Jiangxi province and will leave the firm, a spokesman of the company said on Tuesday.

Li was selected for the vice governor position on Monday, according to a report on the provincial government website. (www.jiangxi.gov.cn)

'According to the state administration rules, government officials cannot work at enterprises at the same time,' Jiangxi Copper's spokesman Pan Qifang said.

Pan did not provide a timeframe for appointment of a new chairman and president of Jiangxi Copper and said the Jiangxi government would assign a replacement.

Jiangxi Copper Company is the listed arm of Jiangxi Copper Corporation, which is state-owned and controlled by the provincial government of Jiangxi, in southern China.

Li is also the chairman of Jiangxi Copper Corporation, which post he will also leave.

Jiangxi Copper Company produced near 1.1 million tonnes of refined copper in 2012, an increase of about 17 percent on the year. The firm would produce about the same as last year in 2013, Pan said last week.

(Reporting by Polly Yam; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) Keywords: JIANGXICOPPER CHAIRMAN/

(polly.yam@thomsonreuters.com)(+852 2843 6933)(Reuters Messaging: polly.yam.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

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