The minister of foreign affairs of the People's Republic of China is the head of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and one of the country's top and most important State Council posts. Officially, the minister is nominated by the premier of the State Council, who is then approved by the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...

or its

Standing Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

and appointed by the president. The minister usually is also a member of the Central Committee of the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

and a

state councillor A State Councillor of the People's Republic of China () serves as a senior vice leader within the State Council of the PRC, State Council and shares responsibilities with the Vice Premier of China, Vice Premiers in assisting the Premier of China, ...

. The Minister is the second-highest ranking diplomat in China after the director of the Office of the

Central Foreign Affairs Commission The Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, commonly called the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, is a commission of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that exercises general ...

. The current minister is Wang Yi, who concurrently serves as the director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission.

History

The post was initially established after the

proclamation of the People's Republic of China The proclamation of the People's Republic of China was made by Mao Zedong, the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on October 1, 1949, in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The government of a new state under the CCP, formally called ...

on 1 October 1949 as the minister of foreign affairs of the Central People's Government, with

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

being appointed as both the minister and the

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

List of officeholders

Timeline

References

Citations

Sources

External links

* {{Portal bar, China, Politics

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Provincial and ministerial-level official