姚明参政 当选上海政协常委

已经退役的NBA球星姚明为他的后篮球时代履历又增加了浓重的一笔——政治——他成为上海政治协商会议委员会常委。自从去年夏天，姚明宣布因为脚踝伤病运动生涯退役后，他进入校园学习商业管理课程，拥有自己品牌的葡萄酒公司，野化放归大熊猫，日前又被选举为上海政协委员会常委。31岁的姚明在众人间显得格外突出，他是142人委员会中最年轻和身高最高的委员。姚明将出席政协的常规会议，并可以向政府提出有效建议。姚明在接受采访时表示：“给出提案是一件非常严肃的事情，我不想太草率。”目前姚明在上海交通大学就读学位，同时努力经营着自己的CBA联赛的球队上海大鲨鱼。

When news broke that Chinese NBA superstar Yao Ming was planning to hang up his jersey last summer after a persistent injury got the better of his on-court career, his former also-newly retired-rival Shaquille O'Neal welcomed him.

"Enjoy retirement!" exclaimed Shaq on YouTube. "Let's go on vacation, bro me and you."

No word if the two towering centers were ever able to share 18 holes or a drink on a beach, but it would be hard to imagine how either of them would have found the time, especially Yao.

Since leaving professional basketball in July, Yao has become a force in Shanghai. He has gone back to school, launched a high-end wine label, released pandas into the wild and, just this past weekend, been elected onto a political advisory committee in his hometown of Shanghai.

The 31 year old took his place on Sunday at Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Shanghai Committee's annual meeting alongside six other newly elected members who were all almost twice his age. Among his new colleagues were the directors of the Shanghai Library and the Shanghai Tourism Bureau. Yao is the youngest and, at 7-foot-6, the tallest member of the 142-person committee.

Even in retirement, Yao Ming is still one of the most famous men in China. Plenty of organizations and Yao himself are seemingly eager to use his influential capital while the going is still good.

"Yao said the new title shows trust coming from the people in the city," Yao spokesman Zhang Chi told the China Daily. Zhang denied that Yao harbored any political aspirations.

"The responsibilities for a CPPCC member include offering political consultation, and supervision. What Yao wants is to use his influence to do good deeds for society, but not to seek a political position," Zhang said.

With the new job Yao is expected to attend regular meetings and offer suggestions or written proposals to the local government.

"Raising proposals is very serious business, and I do not want to be hasty," Yao told the press after the meeting, adding that he will be focusing his efforts on sports education, an area he is more familiar with.

Yao will have to juggle this new political job with a fulltime gig at Shanghai's prestigious Jiao Tong University (though through custom, private one-on-one degree program) and his commitments as owner of Shanghai's professional basketball team, The Sharks, which he used to play for.