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

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.

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.