China has appointed Li Jinjun, deputy head of the CPC Central Committee's International Department, as ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

President Xi Jinping made the appointment in line with decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, according to a news release from the top legislature on Wednesday.

Li, 59, will be the second Chinese ambassador to the DPRK chosen from the International Department, following Liu Hongcai, who ended his five-year mission in February and has returned to his post in the department.

Li studied German at Shanghai International Studies University in the early 1970s and once studied overseas in the former Federal Republic of Germany. A seasoned diplomat, he served as ambassador to Myanmar from 2001 to 2005 and ambassador to the Philippines from 2005 to 2007.

China sent its first ambassador to Pyongyang in 1950. Li will be the 17th envoy.

China Daily

(China Daily 03/20/2015 page3)