Ma Zhaoxu

Ma Zhaoxu (also spelled as Ma Chao-hsü; Chinese: 马朝旭; pinyin: Mǎ Zhāoxù; born 1 September 1963) is a Chinese diplomat, currently serving as the Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs with the Minister rank since January 2023.

Ma Zhaoxu
马朝旭
Ma in 2024
Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 January 2023
Minister	Qin Gang Wang Yi
Preceded by	Le Yucheng
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 July 2019 Serving with Deng Li, Xie Feng, Sun Weidong, Hua Chunying
Minister	Wang Yi (1st term) Qin Gang Wang Yi (2nd term)
Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations
In office 25 January 2018 – 10 July 2019
Preceded by	Liu Jieyi
Succeeded by	Zhang Jun
Permanent Representative of China to United Nations Office in Geneva
In office 6 April 2016 – 6 January 2018
Preceded by	Wu Hailong
Succeeded by	Yu Jianhua
Chinese Ambassador to Australia
In office 23 August 2013 – 27 March 2016
Preceded by	Chen Yuming
Succeeded by	Cheng Jingye
Personal details
Born	(1963-09-01) 1 September 1963 (age 61) Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Children	1
Residence	Beijing
Alma mater	Peking University London School of Economics and Political Science
Occupation	Politician, diplomat

In this Chinese name, the family name is Ma.

He previously served as the ambassador of China to Australia, as the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China (PRC), and as the director-general of its Information Department. He also served as the Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations (UN) in New York City from January 2018 to July 2019.^[1]

Early life

Ma Zhaoxu was born in Harbin, Heilongjiang province in September 1963. He graduated from Peking University with a degree in international relations. In 1986, he participated in the inaugural Asian college students debating competition organized by the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) and won the "best debater" award, becoming well known to PRC college students at the time.^[2][3]

Career

Ma joined the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1987 and served in various departments and embassies, including counselor at the PRC embassy in the United Kingdom from 2001 to 2002 and counselor at the PRC embassy in Belgium from 2002 to 2004. He was appointed deputy director of the Policy Planning Department in 2004 and director in 2006. In January 2009, he replaced Liu Jianchao as the director-general of the Information Department as well as the head spokesperson of the ministry.^[4][5][6]

In April 2010, as spokesman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ma stated that “there are no dissidents in China”, while China responds disapprovingly to the Nobel prize having been awarded to incarcerated Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.^[7]

On 6 April 2016, he was appointed as the Permanent Representative of the China to the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) and other International Organizations.^[8]

In 2018, Ma succeeded Liu Jieyi as China's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York.^[9]

Ma was recalled back to China and appointed Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs on July 15, 2019.^[10] As vice minister, he is responsible for managing international organizations and conferences, international economy and arms control affairs.^[10]

On 13 January 2023, Ma was appointed to the role of Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs taking charge of all daily working affairs. This position is equivalent to a ministerial-level rank.^[11]

Personal life

Ma is married with one daughter and two grandchildren. His daughter attended Beijing Jingshan School, graduated from Carnegie Mellon University and George Washington University.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Chinese in New York City