1. Yang Jiechi is a Chinese senior diplomat and retired politician.
23 Facts About Yang Jiechi
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Yang Jiechi served as director of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Foreign Affairs Commission from 2013 and 2022, State Councilor from 2013 to 2018, Minister of Foreign Affairs of China from 2007 to 2013.
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Yang Jiechi joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1972, after previously served as a worker at the Shanghai City Pujiang Electric Meter Factory from 1968 to 1972.
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Yang Jiechi studied international relations at Ealing College, University of Bath, and London School of Economics from 1973 to 1975.
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Yang Jiechi received a Doctor of History in world history from Nanjing University in 2006 through an on-the-job graduate program.
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Yang Jiechi graduated from Shanghai Foreign Language School and attended the Ealing College, University of Bath and the London School of Economics from 1973 to 1975.
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From 1975 to 1983, Yang Jiechi served as a staff member and Second Secretary at the Translation and Interpretation Department of the Foreign Ministry.
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Yang Jiechi was promoted to Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1998, becoming the youngest vice foreign minister in PRC history; he was responsible for Latin America and Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
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In 2013, Yang Jiechi met with Japan's new ambassador to China and leader of Japan's New Komeito party.
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Yang Jiechi held group meetings with ambassadors from EU and its member states.
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Yang Jiechi met with Moo-sung Kim, Special envoy of South Korea's president-elect Park Geun-hye, to strengthen ties with South Korea.
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Yang Jiechi has made pledges for more contribution to world peace.
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At the first plenary session of the 12th National People's Congress in March 2013, Yang Jiechi was elected as State Councilor.
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Yang Jiechi was a member of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
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Yang Jiechi was a member of the 17th CCP Central Committee and an alternate member of the 16th CCP Central Committee.
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Yang Jiechi was elevated to the decision making Politburo at the 19th CCP Congress in October 2017.
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In 2017, Yang Jiechi incorporated the term "Great changes unseen in a century" into the CCP's rhetoric, describing it as a guiding tenet of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy.
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In March 2021, Yang Jiechi led the Chinese delegation for a strategic dialogue with the US in Alaska.
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Yang Jiechi said that it was necessitated by the "tone" of the US delegation.
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Yang Jiechi harangued the United States for its human rights record, called it a global "champion of cyber attacks", and declared that "many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States".
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In October 2021, Yang Jiechi travelled to Zurich, Switzerland to meet with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to further discuss current issues regarding diplomatic relations and a possible virtual meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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On 1 January 2023, Yang Jiechi officially retired from politics after he stepped down as the director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission.
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Yang Jiechi received in 2009 an honorary degree from the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations, a for-profit business whose lack of university accreditation has put it under the spotlight of the news media.