Zhai Jun (; born December 1954) is a Chinese diplomat, who has served as China's Special Envoy on the Middle Eastern Issue since 2019. As of 2022, he was the incumbent in the position. Previously, he served as Deputy

Foreign Minister 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 ...

from 2009 to 2014, and was appointed Chinese ambassador to France in January 2014, replacing

Kong Quan Kong Quan (; born November 1955) is a Chinese diplomat and politician who served as Chinese Ambassador to France and Monaco from 2008 to 2013. He is a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conferen ...

Early life

Born on 1954 in

Qingyuan Qingyuan, formerly romanized as Tsingyun, is a prefecture-level city in northern Guangdong province, China, on the banks of the Bei or North River. During the 2020 census, its total population was 3,969,473, out of whom 1,738,424 lived in the ...

, Hebei, Zhai learned

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

since childhood. After graduating from Beijing Foreign Language School in November 1972, he was sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to study in the Arabic Department of the Faculty of Literature at

Cairo University Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...

in Egypt and graduated in 1975.

Diplomatic career

Upon his graduation, he returned to China and worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he worked in the translation office, the Department of

West Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, and at Chinese embassies in

South Yemen South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until Yemeni unification, its unification with the Yemen A ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. He later worked as a counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Saudi Arabia. In 1996, he served as counselor of the West Asia and North Africa Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In December 1997, he served as the Chinese Ambassador to

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. After his return to China in 2000, he served as Deputy Director-General of the Department of West Asia and North Africa and on the same year, he served as a member of the Standing Committee of the

Zhenjiang Zhenjiang, alternately romanized as Chinkiang, is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, China. It lies on the southern bank of the Yangtze River near its intersection with the Grand Canal. It is opposite Yangzhou (to its north) and ...

Municipal Committee in

Jiangsu Province Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, with a population of 84. ...

. In 2001, he served as Director-General of the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in 2003, he appointed as the Director-General of the Department of West Asia and North Africa. In 2006, he was promoted to Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and in 2009, he was promoted to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. From January 2014 to June 2019, he served the Chinese Ambassador to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. On September 2, 2019, he was appointed as the Chinese Special Envoy to the Middle East, succeeding Gong Xiaosheng.

Personal life

He is married and has one son.

Awards

Grand Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(

, 2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhai, Jun 1954 births Living people Ambassadors of China to France Ambassadors of China to Libya Ambassadors of China to Monaco Political office-holders in Jiangsu Diplomats of the People's Republic of China Chinese expatriates in Egypt Chinese expatriates in Saudi Arabia Chinese expatriates in Yemen Cairo University alumni Politicians from Baoding Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hebei People's Republic of China politicians from Hebei Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour