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Ministers and Vice-Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Careers

Ministers (chronological)
1. Zhou Enlai   周恩來 1949–1958
2. Chen Yi   陳毅 58/02/11–72/01
3. Ji Pengfei   姬鵬飛 [see V.-Min. section for details] 72/01–74/11
(Vice-Minister
 55/01–72/01)
4. Qiao Guanhua   喬冠華 74/11/15–76/12
(Vice-Minister
 64/04–74/11)
5. Huang Hua   黃華 76/12/02–82/11
Born 1913
CCP 1936
Yanjing University mid-1930s
For. Affs. office, Tianjin, Nanjing,
     Shanghai Military Control Commissions		 49-early 50s
Joins For. Min. 53
Rep., Korean Armistice Negotiations 53
Advisor to deleg, Geneva Indochina Conf. 54
Dir., Eur. & African Affs. Dept.; Head, Research
    Dept., Institute of For. Affairs		 54-59
Amb. to Ghana 60-65
Amb. to UAR [Egypt] 66-70
Amb. to Canada 71-72
Perm. Rep., UN 71-76
Member, 10th, 11th, 12th CCP CC 73-85
Minister 76-82
Vice-Premier 80-82
State Councilor 82-83
Vice-Chmn., 6th NPC 83-88
Resigns from 12th CC 85
Member, CCP Cent. Advisory Com. 87-92
Pres. China Assoc. for Int. Friendly Contacts 92-
6. Wu Xueqian   吳學謙 [see V.-Min. section, sep. biography for details] 82/11–88/03
(Vice-Minister
 82/04–82/11)
7. Qian Qichen   錢其琛 [see V.-Min. section, sep. biography for details] 88/04/12–
(Vice-Minister            82/04–88/03;
Vice-Prem. from  93/03/29)
Vice-Ministers (alphabetical)
Chen Jiakang  (18)   陳家康 66–70
Born 1911
CCP 1931
Studied at Wuhan U., under Wang Shijie
     [later FM of ROC]		 ca. 31-33
Personal Sec. to Zhou Enlai ca. 37-45
Attended founding conf. of UN (w/Dong Biwu) 1945
Active in youth work 46-50
Dep. Dir., Asian Affairs Dept. 50-52
Dir., Asian Affairs Dept. [in 1955, 1st A.A. Dept.] 52-56
Amb. to Egypt 56-65
Amb. to Yemen Arab Rep. (conc.) 57-64
Vice-Minister 66-70
Dai Bingguo (50)   戴秉國 94/01-
Dep. Dir., Soviet/E. Eur. Affs. Dept. 85-86
Dir., Soviet/E. Eur. Affs. Dept. 86-89
Amb. to Hungary 89-92
Ministerial Assistant 92-94
Vice-Minister 94-
Fu Hao  (21)   符浩 72/05–74/09; 81/12–82/04
Born 1916
CCP 1930s
Studied at Kang-Da, Yan'an 1938
Military career 39-50
Counselor, Emb. to Mongolia 50
Asian Affairs Dept. 54-55
Counselor, inter. Chargé d’Affaires, Emb. to India 55-62?
Dir. General Office, For. Min. 70-72
Rep., 26th UN General Assembly [1 of 3] 71
Vice-Minister 72-74
Amb. to Vietnam 74-77
Amb. to Japan 77-82
Vice-Minister/Advisor 82-?
Head of deleg., Sino-Indian talks 82-83
Vice-Chmn., For. Affairs Com., 6th, 7th NPC 83-93
Geng Biao  (10)   耿飆 60/01–63/08
Born 1909
CCP (Long March Veteran) 1928
Amb. to Denmark (conc.) 50-55
Amb. to Sweden (conc.) 50-56
Amb. to Finland (conc.) 51-54
Amb. to Pakistan 56-59
Vice-Minister 60-63
Amb. to Myanmar [Burma] 63-67
Amb. to Albania 69-71
Head, CCP Int. Liaison Dept. 71-79
Member, Politburo, CCP 11th CC 77-82
Vice-Premier 78-82
Minister of Defense 81-82
State Councilor 82-83
Member, SC of CCP Central Advisory Com. 82-92
Chmn., 6th NPC Foreign Affs. Committee 83-88
Gong Dafei  (32)   宮達非 79/11–84/08
1st Sec., Emb. to Burma 53?
Dep. Dir., West Asia/Africa Affairs Dept. 59?
Counselor, Emb. to Morocco 60?-63
Dep. Dir., Africa Affairs Dept. 63?
Dep. Dir., West Asia/Africa Affairs Dept. 70?
Amb. to Iraq 70-73
Amb. to Zaire 73-78
Ministerial Assistant 78
Vice-Minister 79-84
Advisor 84?
Head, China-Africa Friendship Assoc. 84-9?
Senior Advisor, Beijing Inst. of Strategic Studies 87-
Member, 7th CPPCC Foreign Affs. Com. 88-93
Han Kehua  (33)   韓克華 79/11–81/01
Born 1919
Various CP leadership positions in Hubei Prov. 49-64
Amb. to Hungary 64-67
Amb. to Guinea 69-74
Amb. to Italy 74-77
Amb. to France 77-80
Vice-Minister 80-81
Dir., Bureau for Travel and Tourism 81-88
Vice-Chmn., CPPCC For. Affairs Com. 88-
Pres., Tourism Association 89-
Han Nianlong  (16)   韓念龍 64/04–82/04
Born 1910
CCP
Beijing Executive Headquarters 46-47
Amb. to Pakistan 51-56
Amb. to Sweden 56-58
Ministerial Assistant 58-64
Vice-Minister 64-82
Member, Central Advisory Com. 82-92
Head, Ch. People’s Inst. of For. Affairs
     (married to Wang Zhen, one-time Dep. Dir., Information Dept., For. Min.)		 83-91
Han Xu  (36)   韓敘      82/04–84/08
Born 1924
CCP 1942?
Member, Protocol Dept., For. Min 59?
Counselor, Emb. to USSR 64?
Dep. Dir., Protocol Dept. 69?
Dir., Protocol Dept. 72?-73
Member, delegation to Paris Conf. on Vietnam 73
Dep. Head, Liaison Office, Washington 73-79
Dir., American/Oceanic Affs. Dept. 79-82
Vice-Minister 82-85
Alt. member, CCP 12th, 13th CCs 82-92
Amb. to United States 85-89
Chmn., Assoc. for Friendship w/For. Countries 89-
Chmn., CPPCC For. Affs. Com. 93-
He Ying  (20)   何英 72/05–82/04
Born 1914
Lived in Malaya ?
CCP 1930s
Cons.-Gen., Jakarta 1950
Min. Couns., Emb. to Indonesia (conc.) 1951
Dep. Dir., Asian Affairs Dept. 52-54
Amb. to Mongolia 54-58
Dep. Dir., 1st Asia Dept. 59-60
Dir., West Asia/Africa Dept. 60-62
Amb. to Tanganyika 62-64
Amb. to Uganda (conc.) 63-64
Amb. to Tanzania [amalg. of Tanganika, Zanzibar] 64-69?
Dep. Dir., West Asia/Africa Dept. 70?-72
Vice-Minister 72-82
Advisor 82-84
Member SC, V-Chmn. Overseas Ch. Com.,
     6th, 7th NPC		 83-93
 Huang Zhen  (11)   黃鎮 61/04–64/03
Born 1908
CCP 1931
Studied fine arts at Xin-hua Academy, Shanghai
Beijing Executive Headquarters 46-47
Gen. Pol. Dept., People’s Rev. Mil. Council
Amb. to Hungary 50-54
Amb. to Indonesia 54-61
Amb. to France 64-73
Head, Liaison Office in United States 73-77
Died 90/01
Jiang Enzhu  (48)   姜恩柱 91/12-
Dep. Dir., W. Eur. Affs. Dept. 85-88
Dir., W. Eur. Affs. Dept. 89-90
Ministerial Assistant 90-91
Vice-Minister 91-
Dep. Head, Prelim. Work Com. of HKSAR 93-
Ji Pengfei  (6)   姬鵬飛 55/01–72/01
Born 1909
Graduate of Military Medical College, Xi'an 2?
CCP (Long March Veteran) 1931
Amb. to German Dem. Rep. 50-55
Vice-Minister 55-71
Member, deleg. to Geneva Laos Conference 61
Acting Minister 71
Minister 72-74
Member, CCP 10th, 11th CCs 73
Member, then Sec.-Gen., 4th NPC SC 75-78
Vice-Chmn., 5th NPC SC 78-79
Head, CCP Int. Liaison Dept. 79-82
Vice-Premier 79-82
Sec.-Gen., State Council 80-81
State Councilor 82-88
Head, State Council HK & Macao Affs. Office 83-90
Li Kenong  (2)   李克農 49/10–53
Born 1898
Member, 1st & 2nd NPCs
Deputy Chief of Staff, PLA 55?-62
Died 1962
Li Yaowen  (19)   李耀文 71/07–71/11
Born 1918
CCP 1937
Service in Korean War 50
Military posts in Ji'nan late 50s-60s
Vice-Minister 71
Amb. to Tanzania 72-76
Amb. to Madagascar (conc.) 73-74
Alt. member, CCP 11th CC 77-82
Returns to military career [rising to full general] 81-
Li Zhaoxing  (51)   李肇星 95/02-
MOFA Spokesman 85-
Dep. Dir., Information Dept. 85-88
Dir., Information Dept. 88-
Perm. Rep. to UN, New York 93-95
Vice-Minister 95-
Liu Huaqiu  (45)   劉華秋 89/10–94/11
Born
CCP
Ministerial Assistant 88-89
Vice-Minister 89-94
Alt. member, 14th CCP CC 92-
Dir., State Council Off. of Foreign Affairs 94-
Liu Shuqing  (41)   劉述卿 84/08–89/12
Born 1925
New 4th Army 1939
CCP 1943
Studies diplomacy, People’s U. 1950
Dep. Section Chief, USSR & E. Eur. Affs. Dept. 51-54
2nd Sec., Emb. to USSR 54-61
Div. Chief, Couns., USSR & E. Eur. Affs. Dept. 61-64
Couns., Emb. to USSR 70-72
Amb. to Poland 72-77
Amb. to Norway 77-80
Amb. to Bangladesh 80-82
Ministerial Ass’t., conc. Dir. Asian Affs. Dept. 82-84
Vice-Minister 84-89
Sec.-Gen., CCP CC For. Affs. Leading Group 89-
Director, For. Affairs Office, State Council 89-91
Liu Xiao  (12)   劉曉 62/12–66/09
Born 1907
Studied in foreign-run schools, became Christian
CCP 1920s
Sec., CCP Shanghai Com. at Liberation
Amb. to Soviet Union 55-62
Vice-Minister 62-66
Amb. to Albania 1967
Liu Xinquan  (14)   劉新權 64/04–70/06
Amb. to Soviet Union 70-76
Amb. to Albania 76-79
Liu Zhenhua  (26)   劉振華 76/07–79/02
Born 1921
CCP 1938
Military service in Korea 50-55
Graduates from PLA Military Academy 57
Alt. member, CCP 9th, 10th, 11th CCs 69-82
Amb. to Albania 71-76
Vice-Minister 76-79
Returns to military career [rising to full general] 80
Pol. Com’sar., Shenyang, then Beijing mil. regions 82-90
Member, CCP 12th, 13th CCs 82-92
Luo Guibo  (9)   羅貴波 57/10–70/10
Born ca. 1911
CCP (Long March Veteran) ca. 1927
Military positions in early PRC period
Amb. to Vietnam 54-57
Member, CCP 8th CC 56-69
Vice-Minister 57-70
First appearance since 1970 78
Governor, Shanxi Prov. 79-83
Member, CCP Central Advisory Com. 82-92
Ma Wenbo  (24)   馬文波 72/05–78/02
     ( “馬文普” Dep. Dir. of a dept. in CCP Int. Liaison Bureau from 1988)
Pu Shouchang  (34)   浦壽昌 79/11–82/04
Advisor, CASS 86-to date
Qi Huaiyuan  (43)   齊懷遠 86/03–91
Born 1930
CCP 1948
Graduated, Harbin For. Languages School 1950
3rd, 2nd Sec., Emb. to GDR 50-67
Div. Chief, USSR & E. Eur. Affs. Dept. 72-74
Couns., Emb. to GDR 74-77
Couns. & Min. Couns., Emb. to FRG 77-83
Dir., Info. Dept. 83-84
Ministerial Assistant 84-86
Vice-Minister 86-91
Alt. member, CCP 13th CC 87-92
Dir., State Council Off. of Foreign Affairs 91-94
Member, CCP 14th CC 92-
Pres., CPAFFC 94-
Qian Qichen  (38)   錢其琛 82/04–88/03
Born 1928
CCP 1942
Led underg’d. activities in Shanghai high schools 45-?
Member, district party coms. & sec. CYL in sev.
     Shanghai districts		 49-53
Researcher, gen. office CYL CC 1953
Studied at USSR’s Central CYL School 1954
Successively 2nd Sec.; Dep. Dir., Exchange
     Students Dept.; Dir., Research Section in
     Moscow Embassy		 55-63
Chief, Student Exchange Sec., then Dep. Dir.,
     Dept. Ext. Rels., Min. of Higher Ed.		 63-72
Counselor, Emb. to USSR 72-74
Amb. to Guinea 74-76
Amb. to Guinea-Bissau (conc.) 74-75
Dir., Information Dept., For. Min. 77-82
Vice-Minister 82-
Special Envoy for pol. negotiations w/USSR 82
Head of deleg. for border negotiations w/USSR 87
In charge of United Nations affairs 87-
Minister 88-
Member, CCP 12th & 13th CCs -92
Member, Politburo, CCP 14th CC 92/10
Vice-Premier 93-
Qiao Guanhua  (13)   喬冠華 64/04–74/11
Born 1914
Graduate (philosophy), Qinghua U. 1933
PhD (philosophy), Tubingen U., Germany 1936
CCP 1930s?
Vice-Dir., For. Policy Committee, For. Min. 49-
Vice-Pres., Ch. People’s Inst. of For. Affs. 49-
Ministerial Assistant 54-64
died 1983
Tang Jiaxuan (49)   唐家璇 93/03-
Min. to Japan 8?-
Vice-Minister 93-
Tian Zengpei  (44)   田曾佩 88/05–
Born 1930
CCP 1947
USSR Youth League school 1951
Youth League and Party posts
Dep. Div. Chief, Political Dept. 64-66
Dep. Dir., USSR & E. Eur. Affs. Dept. 70-76
Counselor, Emb. to USSR 76-81
Min. Couns., Emb. to Yugoslavia 82-84
Amb. to Czechoslovakia 84-85
Amb. to Yugoslavia 86-88
Dir., USSR & E. Eur. Affs. Dept. 85-88?
Vice-Minister 88-
Member, CCP 14th CC 92-
Wang Bingnan  (15)   王炳南 64/04–75/07
Born 1906
CCP 1925
Studied in Germany 31-35
Married Ger. woman (later pers. sec. to Mme. Sun) 1935
Sec. & spokesman for Zhou Enlai 40s
Dir., Staff Office 49-55
Ministerial Assistant (conc.) 1954
Amb. to Poland 55-64
Rep., Sino-U.S. ambassadorial talks (conc.) 55-57; 58-64
Vice-Minister 64-75
Wang Hairong  (25)   王海容 74/07–79/02
[Mao Zedong’s niece]
Wang Jiaxiang  (1)   王稼祥 49/10–58
Born 1907
CCP 1925
Member, CCP 7th, 8th CCs 46-69
Sec., CCP CC 56-
Vice-Minister 49-58
Amb. to Soviet Union (conc.) 49-51
Head, CCP International Liaison Dept.
died
Wang Shu  (29)   王殊 78/05–80/04
Born
CCP
Amb. to Germany, Fed. Rep. 74-76
Vice-Minister 78-80
Amb. to Austria 80-85
Wang Youping  (30)   王幼平 79/07–82/02
Born 1910
CCP (Long March Vet) 1931
Military positions prior to PRC founding
Amb. to Romania 50-54
Amb. to Norway 55-58
Amb. to Cambodia 58-62
Amb. to Cuba 64-69
Amb. to Vietnam 69-74
Amb. to Malaysia 75-77
Amb. to Soviet Union 77-79
Vice-Minister 79-82
Wen Yezhan  (37)   溫業湛 82/04–84/07
Amb. to Egypt 1984-1987
Amb. to Korea, DPR 1987-1990
Amb. to Canada 1990-
Wu Xiuquan  (4)   伍修權 50/12–55/01
Born 1908
CCP 1927
Study in Soviet Union (Sun Yat-sen U.) 26-31
Head, CCP For. Affs. Dept. 36-?
Military career
Beijing Executive Headquarters 1946
Head, USSR & E. Eur. Affs. Dept. (part conc.) 49-52
Participant, deleg. to Moscow to neg. 1st treaty 1950
Leader, deleg. to UN on US aggression, Taiwan, Kor. 1950
Vice-Minister 50-55
Amb. to Yugoslavia 55-58
Member, CCP 8th CC 56-69
Wu Xueqian  (35)   吳學謙 82/04–82/11
Born 1921
CCP 1939
CYL work
Head, fifth section, CCP Int. Liaison Bureau 58-?
Head, W. Asia/Africa Sec., Int. Liaison Bur. 72-?
Head, CCP Int. Liaison Dept. -82?
Minister 83-88
State Councilor 88-
Member, CCP For. Affs. Leading Group 89-
Xu Dunxin  (47)   徐敦信 91/04–93/01
Born
CCP
Dir., Asian Affairs Dept. 88-91
Vice-Minister 91-93
Amb. to Japan 93-
Xu Yixin  (17)   徐以新 66/01–79/02
Born
CCP
Amb. to Albania 54-57
Amb. to Norway 58-62
Amb. to Syria 62-65
Vice-Minister 66-79
Amb. to Pakistan 79-82
Yang Fuchang  (46)   楊福昌 90/03–93/07
Born
CCP
Amb. to Kuwait 84-87
Min. Ass’t., Dir., W. Asian & N. Afr. Affs. Dept. 88-90
Vice-Minister 90-93
Amb. to Egypt 94-
Yao Guang  (39)   姚廣 82/12–86/02
Born 1921
Anti-Japanese guerrilla 1937
CCP 1937
Chief, For. Affairs Div., Hubei Prov. 54-55
Dep. Dir., W. Eur. Affairs Dept. 55-57
Counselor, Emb. to Poland 57-62
Dir., 2nd Asian Affairs Dept. 62-66
Dir., Eur. & Amer. Affairs Dept. 67-70
Amb. to Poland 70-71
Amb. to Canada 72-73
Amb. to Mexico 73-77
Amb. to Egypt 77-80
Amb. to Djibouti (conc.) 79-82
Amb. to France (conc.) 80-82
Vice-Minister 82-86
Member, CCP 12th CC 82-87
Advisor, MOFA 86-
Memb., NPC SC 88-
V-Chmn., NPC For. Affairs Com. 88-
Advisor, NPC For. Affairs Com. 93?-to date
Yu Zhan  (23)   余湛 72/05–83/05
Born
CCP
Amb. to India 50-56
Amb. to Nepal (conc.) 55-56
Vice-Minister 56-57
Zeng Yongquan  (8)   曾涌泉 57/11–63/08; 64/02–65/12
Born 1906
CCP
Military affairs prior to PRC
Counselor, Emb. to USSR 49-52
Amb. to Poland 52-55
Amb. to German Dem. Rep. 55-57
Vice-Minister 57-63; 64-65
Amb. to Romania 1966
Zhang Canming  (31)   張燦明 79/11–82/04
Born
CCP
Amb. to Sri Lanka 57-62
Amb. to Mongolia, PR 63-67
Amb. to Yemen, Arab Rep. 73-75
Amb. to Finland 75-78
Zhang Deguang  (52)   張德廣 95-
Amb. to Kazakhstan 92-95
Dir., E. Eur. & Central Asian Affs. Dept. 95
Vice-Minister Fall/95
Zhang Haifeng  (27)   張海峰 78/01–81/08
Born
CCP
Amb. to German Dem. Rep. 64-67
Amb. to Romania 69-73
Amb. to Yugoslavia 73-78
Vice-Minister 78-81
Zhang Hanfu  (3)   張漢夫 49/10–72/01
Born ca. 1905
CCP 1938
Attended Qinghua U.
Studied in U.S. (fluent English)
Aide to Zhou Enlai (Chongqing) 39-
Editor-in-chief, Xinhua Ribao (Chongqing) 42-46
Attended founding conf. of UN (w/Dong Biwu) 1945
Writing in Hong Kong 47-48
Brother-in-law to Qiao Guanhua from 1949
Head, Alien Affairs Offices, Tianjin, then Shanghai 1949
Vice-Minister 49-72
Dir., Treaties Dept. 49-?
Dep., then Acting Head, del. to Geneva Laos Conf. 61-62
Member, 1st & 3rd NPC 54-59; 64-
Zhang Wenjin  (28)   章文晉 78/01–82/10
Born
CCP
Amb. to Pakistan 66-67
Amb. to Canada 73-76
Vice-Minister 78-82
Amb. to United States 82-85
Pres., CPAFFC 86-
Member, NPC For. Affs. Committee 88-
Zhang Wentian [Luo Fu] (5)   張聞天  [洛甫] 54/12–60/11 [act. 59/09]
Born 1898
CCP 1925
Worked in U.S. 1922
Studied & taught in Moscow (Sun Yat-sen U.,
      Lenin School)		 26-30
Member, 6th [4th pl.],7th, 8th CCs 31-69
Member/Alt. member of CCP Politburo 31-69
Gen.-Sec., CCP CC 35-39
Head, Marx-Lenin Institute (Yan'an) 1940s
Named Head, PRC del. to UN (abortive) 1950
Amb. to Soviet Union 51-55
Vice-Minister 54-59
Member, 1st, 2nd NPC SCs 54-64
died 1976
Zhong Xidong  (22)   仲曦東 72/05–82/04
Born
CCP
Vice-Minister 72-82
Zhou Nan  (40)   周南 84/08–
Born 1927
CCP 1946
Graduate, Fac. of Lit., Yanjing U. 1948
Teacher, Beijing For. Lang. School 49-50
3rd, 2nd Sec., Emb. to Pakistan 51-55
Sec. Chief, W. Asian/N. Africa Dept. 56-62
2nd, 1st Sec., Emb. to Tanzania 62-67
1st Sec./Counselor, deleg. to UN 71-80
Dep. Rep., deleg. to UN 80-81
Ministerial Assistant 82-84
Vice-Minister 84-89
Head, Xinhua HK Branch 90-
Zhu Qizhen  (42)   朱啟禎 84/08–89/09
Born 1927
CCP 1947
Graduate, Fac. Pol. Sci., St. John’s U. 1948
Dep. Div. Chief, General Office 56-63
2nd, 1st Sec., Emb. to Egypt 64-68
Div. Chief, Dep. Dir., W. Asian/N. Africa Dept. 71-73
Counselor, Emb. to Australia 73-77
Dep. Dir., Amer. & Oceanian Affs. Dept. 77-82
Dir., Amer. & Oceanian Affs. Dept. (conc.) 82-84
Ministerial Assistant (conc.) 82-84
Vice-Minister 84-89
Amb. to United States 89-93
Member 8th NPC SC, V.-Chmn. For. Affs. Com. 93-to date
Ministerial Assistants  [部長助理]
Wang Changyi   王昌義 93/04-
Amb. to Djibouti 83-86
Amb. to Syria 86-89
Ministerial Assistant 93-
Wang Yingfan   王英範 94/01-
Amb. to Philippines 88-90
Dir., Dept of Asian Affairs 90-
Ministerial Assistant 94-
Yang Jiechi   楊潔篪 95/05-
Dep. Dir., N. Amer. & Oceanian Affs. Dept. 90-
Wang Guozhang   王國章 95/06-
Dep. Dir., Macao Br., Xinhua 91-
Wu Tao   武韜 95/06-
Amb. to Portugal 93-94
[Former Ministerial Assistants]
Wen Chi   文遲 88/05/03
Counsellor, Emb. to Japan 84-
Cons.-Gen. (amb. rank), Osaka 87-
Dir., Admin. Dept. 88-
Ministerial Assistant 88-
Qin Huasun   秦華孫 93/05/31
Alt. Rep., UNO Geneva 85-
Rep., UNO Vienna 87-90
Ministerial Assistant 93-95
Perm. Rep., UNO New York 95-]