Wang Yi
Wang Yi is a Chinese diplomat and politician who is the Director of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission Office and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Born in Beijing, Wang studied Japanese at Beijing International Studies University. He joined the Asian section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after his graduation. In 1989, he was sent to the Chinese embassy in Japan and served there for five years. From 1997 to 1998, Wang was a visiting scholar at the Georgetown University in the United States. After his return, he became assistant minister and the director of office of policy research. In 2001, Wang was elevated to Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of Asian affairs. From 2004 to 2007, he served as the Chinese ambassador to Japan.
Wang served as the Director of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office from 2008 to 2013. In 2013, Wang was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. From 2018 to 2023, he also served as a State Councilor of China. In 2022, he became a member of the CCP Politburo, and was succeeded by Qin Gang as foreign minister. In 2023, after Qin Gang's removal, Wang Yi was reappointed as foreign minister.
Early and personal life
Wang was born in Beijing. After graduating from high school in September 1969, he was sent down to Northeast China. He subsequently served in the Northeast Construction Army Corps in Heilongjiang Province for eight years.In December 1977, Wang returned to Beijing and in the same year was enrolled in the department of Asian and African Languages of Beijing International Studies University. He studied Japanese at the institution, graduating in February 1982 with a bachelor's degree. He is known to speak fluent English and Japanese.
Wang is married and has one daughter. His wife, Qian Wei, is the daughter of, a former diplomatic secretary to Premier Zhou Enlai.
Early career
Upon graduation from university, Wang was sent to the Asian section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by his father-in-law Qian Jiadong, where he began his career as a diplomat. In September 1989, he was sent to the Chinese embassy in Japan and served there for five years. When he returned to China in March 1994, Wang was appointed as vice section chief of the Asian section of the foreign ministry and was promoted to section chief the next year. For his work in the section he received distinction as an outstanding communist party member. From August 1997 to February 1998, Wang was a visiting scholar at the Institute of Foreign Relations of Georgetown University in the United States. Soon after his return, he was promoted to assistant minister and the director of office of policy research. From September 1999, Wang studied international relations at China Foreign Affairs University and obtained a doctoral degree. In February 2001, Wang was elevated to Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, in charge of Asian affairs. This series of promotions made him consistently among the youngest officials at his level.In September 2004, Wang was appointed as China's Ambassador to Japan. He served in this post until September 2007. In June 2008, Wang succeeded Chen Yunlin as the director of Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of China. One attendee stated that his speech upon receiving this post celebrated the party as the center of the ministry of foreign affairs and referred to Zhou Enlai's founding of the institution.
Minister of Foreign Affairs
On 16 March 2013, during the first session of the 12th National People's Congress, Wang was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, succeeding Yang Jiechi.On 1 January 2023, Wang was appointed as the director of the Office of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Commission, making him China's top diplomat under CCP general secretary Xi Jinping. On 25 July 2023, Wang was reinstated as foreign minister after Qin Gang's dismissal from the post after a month–long absence from public engagements. Wang's reappointment as foreign minister made him the first person to hold the post twice.
China's foreign policy under Xi Jinping has been described as increasingly assertive, even to the point of being dubbed Wolf warrior diplomacy. In his inaugural press conference as Foreign Affairs Minister in March 2014, Wang characterized this new direction as "proactively striving for achievements to let the world hear of the Chinese solutions and Chinese voices." In 2017, Wang's leader described the "Two Guidances", the principles that: China should guide the global community in building a more just and reasonable world order, and that China should guide the global community in safeguarding international security. Following the "Two Guidances", Wang compared China as the "leading goat" in "guiding the reform of global governance." Academics have characterized Wang's tenure as leading a shift away from the former policy of hide your strength, bide your time to a more active role in foreign relations. The One Belt One Road initiative has played a central role in China's foreign policy during this shift.
Wang often meets with foreign counterparts in advance of potential meetings between Xi and other foreign leaders.
Multilateral organizations
Wang has promoted the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as an important venue for China's multilateral diplomacy. Wang sees the SCO as a way of fostering a multi-polar world order which will benefit China and the global south.In September 2024, Wang gave a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in which he denounced "unilateral bullying" and trade restrictions. In the speech he criticized Israel's escalations in the Israel–Hezbollah conflict. Wang had recently criticized US arms sales to Taiwan and trade restrictions on China. During his visit to the UN Wang met with Brazilian leaders to discuss the Russo-Ukraine war. China and Brazil then jointly led a twenty-nation global south bloc to discuss a peace resolution. In the security council meeting Wang said the war should not become an excuse to sanction countries. In February 2025, Wang again addressed the United Nations to highlight China's support of multilateral institutions.
In April 2025, Wang Yi attended the BRICS summit to show support for a multipolar world. However, India did not send a representative to the meeting due to ongoing hostility with Pakistan. Wang particularly called for BRICS to cooperate on rules based trade and supporting the World Trade Organization.
In June 2025, at the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation, Wang Yi met with African leaders to implement Xi's announcement that China was dropping tariffs on all African nations. China is Africa's largest trading partner. At the Two Sessions in 2025, Wang pledged to support the development of African countries.
Belt and Road Initiative
At the 2017 ministerial conference of the China–Arab States Cooperation Forum, Wang emphasized that the development of ports and railways were an important part of exchanges between China and the Arab countries.In 2025, Wang took trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan to discuss expanding One Belt One Road programs in each country. Wang emphasized China's support for Pakistan in "agriculture, industry, and mining". Economic programs in each country come alongside anti-terrorism efforts to prevent the Balochistan Liberation Army, Turkistan Islamic Party, and other organizations from disrupting Chinese business.
Africa
After several years of partnership with CNPC, Niger expelled top executives, citing pay disparities between local and Chinese workers. Yaou Sangaré Bakary then met with Wang in 2025 and stated that China was a strategic partner for Niger. The previous year, China extended a new US$400 million loan-for-oil to Niger after militants strained CNPC's operations in Niger and Benin. Niger is seeking tighter state control of its domestic oil and uranium industries that China is heavily invested in.As Minister, Wang oversaw several of the ministries' mass work initiatives such as the public celebration of Chinese-Nigerian relations. In 2025, Wang Yi visited Chad and Nigeria to highlight his support for the development of African nations. In Chad, he narrowly missed an attack on the capital and subsequently gave a speech in Nigeria on the need for physical, economic, and political security.
Japan
On 15 April 2018, Wang was received by his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono, on the first such official visit of a foreign minister of China to Japan since November 2009.File:Courtesy Call from Foreign Ministers of China and the ROK 01.jpg|thumb|Wang with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul in Tokyo, Japan, 21 March 2025
In January 2025, Wang Yi publicly called for Japan to improve its ties with China and stated that its existing foreign policy towards China was outdated. Wang sought to change Japan's stance on Taiwan while forming better relations with the Shigeru Ishiba government.
On 23 November 2025, amidst the China–Japan diplomatic crisis, Wang said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's comments regarding a possible contingency in Taiwan were "shocking" and "crossed a red line", saying China would "resolutely respond" and that all countries have a responsibility to "prevent the resurgence of Japanese militarism".