Retired Chinese basketball star and former NBA player Yao Ming has been elected vice-chairman of Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association, adding another crown to his already swelling title list.

Yao Ming receives his letter of appointment as the "Honor Ambassador" of the Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association, Dec 5,2011.[Photo/Xinhua]

The association's council held its second session on Monday with the newly-appointed Yao as its vice-chairman, Xinmin.cn reported.

The council also named Yao as the association's "Honor Ambassador".

Yao said his new role as the association's vice-chairman will be a little different from his previous image ambassador posts for other causes and accepts he will need to do some "tangible" work.

The 31-year-old father, who retired from basketball in July 2011, said he was looking forward to making a contribution to public diplomacy and sharing his eight-year experience of living in US.

The Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association was formed to help explain Shanghai and China to the outside world.