Veteran Chinese diplomat Liu Haixing to head Communist Party’s International Department
Liu takes over the role from Liu Jianchao, who was reportedly detained earlier this year after returning from Algeria
Liu Haixing, a veteran diplomat specialising in European affairs, has been appointed as the head of the International Department, the Communist Party’s diplomatic arm.
Liu Haixing, 62, has served in a variety of diplomatic roles over the past three decades and has been deputy director of the office of the National Security Commission since 2018.
He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1985, starting at the translation department, interspersed with periods of advanced study in France.
He has previously served at the Chinese mission to the United Nations and as minister-counsellor at the embassy in Paris.
Upon returning to Beijing, he then served as deputy director and then director of the ministry’s department of European affairs and was promoted to the rank of assistant minister of foreign affairs in 2015.