ISLAMABAD: China’s top legislature convened a session on Tuesday to review a draft criminal law amendment and vote to decide on official appointments and removals. The key appointment was reappointment of State Councillor Wang Yi as China’s Foreign Minister, removing Qing Gang.
Wang Yi has been serving as State Councillor of China besides also working as Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee.
Additionally, Pan Gongsheng has been appointed as China’s central bank governor, replacing Yi Gang, according to a decision adopted at the session. Pan is also the head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).
Pan, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBC), was also appointed as secretary of the central bank’s Party committee on July 1. He, along with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun, met with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen when she visited China recently.
The session also reviewed a draft criminal law amendment with the aim of strengthening relevant regulations concerning bribery and punishment of corruption-related crimes committed by internal personnel of private enterprises, in accordance with the Party’s anti-corruption efforts and its overall policy of protecting private companies in line with the law.
Regarding increased penalties for bribery, the draft stipulates stricter punishments for six scenarios, including repeated bribery, bribery to multiple persons, and state personnel committing bribery. Simultaneously, it adjusts the starting point and levels of punishment for bribery crimes to align with those for accepting bribes.
Wang Yi, a 70-year-old veteran diplomat who served as the Chinese ambassador to Japan from 2004 to 2007, began his career in the foreign ministry in 1982. Besides working in the foreign ministry, Wang also served as director of the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee, and minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council from 2008 to 2013.
Between 2013 and 2018, Wang served as the minister and deputy secretary of the CPC Committee of the foreign ministry. From 2018, he served as the State Councilor, member of the Leading CPC Members Group of the State Council, and foreign minister before Qin took up the position in 2022.
Qin was promoted to the vice minister of the Foreign Ministry in 2018 and three years later became Chinese ambassador to the US. He arrived in the US in July 2021 to take his post as Chinese ambassador.
He was appointed as Chinese foreign minister, according to a decision made by the 13th National People’s Congress Standing Committee, on December 30, 2022.
