Song Tao (; born April 1955) is a Chinese politician and senior diplomat who served as head of the

International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party The International Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (ID; ), better known as the International Liaison Department (ILD), is an agency under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in charge of establ ...

from 2015 to 2022. He was previously Chinese ambassador to

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

, the Philippines, the disciplinary chief of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

, and executive deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office.

Biography

Song was born

Suqian Suqian (, IPA: ) is a prefecture-level city in northern Jiangsu Province, China. It borders Xuzhou to the northwest, Lianyungang to the northeast, Huai'an to the south, and the province of Anhui to the west. History Suqian was said to be the si ...

, Jiangsu province, in April 1955. During the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

, when Song was a teenager, he performed manual labour as a

sent-down youth The sent-down, rusticated, or "educated" youth (), also known as the ''zhiqing'', were the young people who—beginning in the 1950s until the end of the Cultural Revolution, willingly or under coercion—left the urban districts of the ...

Sha County Shaxian District (), formerly Sha County, is a District of Sanming, Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Shaxian District is the hometown of Shaxian delicacies, which are considered part of the food heritage of China. Transportation Shax ...

, Fujian. He worked in the province for his whole life. He attended

Fujian Normal University Fujian Normal University () is a public university in Fuzhou, Fujian, China. FNU has been hailed as the province's "Cradle of teachers." History Tracing its origin back to Fujian Superior Normal School, founded in 1907, Fujian Normal University ...

. Beginning in 1978, he worked at the Fujian Forestry Institute. He was later transferred to the Light Industry Institute of Fujian. He also worked in

Luoyuan County Luoyuan County (; Foochow Romanized: Lò̤-nguòng) is a Counties of China, county on the northeast coast of Fujian, Fujian Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou, the provincial capital. The county ...

, the Light Textiles Industry Company of Fujian, Fujian International Trust Company. From September 1988 to August 1991, he attended

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

in Australia. In 2001, he was named as an assistant to the Chinese ambassador to India. He then became ambassador to Guyana, a department chief in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the ambassador to the Philippines. In August 2008, he joined the party committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the head of discipline inspection of the ministry, in charge of supervision and anti-corruption activities. In September 2011, he was named vice minister of foreign affairs. In November 2013, he was named deputy head of the Foreign Affairs Office, the execution arm of the Foreign Affairs Leading Group. In September 2014, he was elevated to executive deputy chief of the office, with the rank equivalent of a minister. In October 2015, Song accompanied

Politburo Standing Committee The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Histori ...

member

Liu Yunshan Liu Yunshan (; ; born July 1947) is a retired Chinese politician. He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the top decision-making body of the CCP, between 2012 and 2017; he was broadly tasked with the wo ...

on a high-profile trip to North Korea. In November 2015, he replaced

Wang Jiarui Wang Jiarui (; born September 1949) is a Chinese politician and senior diplomat, currently serving as the Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He served as director of the International Liaison Department of t ...

as head of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Wang had been at the helm of the department for over a decade.

Honours

Foreign Decorations

KHM Ordre Royal du Cambodge - Grand Croix BAR

Grand Cross of the

Royal Order of Cambodia The Royal Order of Cambodia ( km, គ្រឿងឥស្សរិយយសព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា; french: Ordre royal du Cambodge) was a colonial order of chivalry of French Cambodia, and is still in use ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Tao People from Suqian 1955 births Living people People's Republic of China politicians from Jiangsu Chinese Communist Party politicians from Jiangsu Ambassadors of China to the Philippines Monash University alumni Fujian Normal University alumni