On the last working day of 2022, China’s new foreign minister was appointed.
In accordance with the decision of the 38th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China on December 30, Wang Yi was removed from his concurrent post as foreign minister and Qin Gang was appointed to replace him.
The latest ministerial message was published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the evening of December 30. The new minister Qin Gang said that we will adhere to the foreign policy purpose of safeguarding world peace and promoting common development, strive to promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, build a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation, actively participate in the reform and construction of the global governance system, firmly defend national sovereignty, security and development interests, and make every effort to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and legal persons overseas.
According to public information, Qin Gang, male, born in March 1966, from Tianjin, graduated from university. He has served as Counsellor at the Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Deputy Director General of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Minister at the Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In 2021, Qin Gang was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States of America.
After the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it was widely predicted that the 56-year-old Qin Gang would be a popular candidate for China’s new foreign minister. During the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Qin Gang was elected to the Central Committee, and the outside world noted that he was the only deputy ministerial-level official in China’s diplomatic system to become a member of the Central Committee, and the first ambassador to the United States to become a member of the Central Committee during his term of office.