NEW YORK—China’s new ambassador to the United States has arrived in the country, vowing to shoulder the “heavy responsibility” of a superpower relationship that is “facing severe challenges”.
Xie Feng, a career diplomat with extensive experience in Washington, arrived in New York on Tuesday, Beijing’s embassy in the US said in a statement.
He replaces Qin Gang, who left his post earlier this year to serve as China’s foreign minister.
“At present, Sino-US relations are encountering serious difficulties and facing severe challenges,” Xie told reporters at the airport, according to a statement on the embassy’s website.
“I feel both a glorious sense of mission and a heavy responsibility. My colleagues and I will face up to difficulties, fulfil our responsibilities and live up to our mission.”
The US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, said Wednesday he had held a “farewell dinner” with Xie “as we manage the ever-challenging US-China relationship”.
“I look forward to working with him in his new role,” Burns said on Twitter.
According to an official government biography, 59-year-old Xie hails from the wealthy eastern province of Jiangsu and holds a master’s degree in management.
He has worked in the foreign service since at least 1986, and spent much of the 1990s rising through the ranks of the ministry’s bureau for North American affairs.
He served two stints in China’s outpost in Washington during the following decade, before becoming ambassador to Indonesia.
Most recently, Xie worked as commissioner of Beijing’s foreign ministry in Hong Kong, and as vice minister of foreign affairs.
Relations between China and the US have become fraught in recent years, with tensions flaring over trade, technology, human rights and other issues.