History of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China

Geneva is recognized as the birthplace of China's multilateral diplomacy. It was here that China made its debut on the stage of multilateral diplomacy when the Chinese delegation headed by Premier Zhou Enlai attended the Geneva Conference on the Korean War and Indochina (26 April - 20 July 1954). In April that year, the Chinese Consulate General in Geneva was opened.

With UNGA Resolution 2758 adopted by the 26th General Assembly on 25 October 1971, which restored the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China in the UN, China's multilateral diplomacy entered a new era. In August 1972, the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland was established on the compound of the Chinese Consulate General in Geneva. In September, China set up its Consulate General in Zurich and closed the one in Geneva.

From 1972 to 1975, there was no Permanent Representative to head the Chinese Mission and Counsellor Wang Chongli acted as Deputy Permanent Representative. The first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland was appointed in October 1975.

To better participate in the work of the Conference on Disarmament, in 1983 China appointed its first ambassador for disarmament affairs based in Geneva.

China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001 and established the Permanent Mission to the WTO in Geneva in January 2002. The first ambassador was Mr. SUN Zhenyu. The incumbent ambassador is Mr. ZHANG Xiangchen.

Over the years, the Chinese Mission to UNOG and other International Organizations in Switzerland has been deeply involved in the UN activities in human rights, disarmament, and social and economic development. It has been promoting China's cooperation with the UN, its specialized agencies, including the World Health Organization, the International Telecommunications Union, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Meteorological Organization, the International Labor Organization, and other international organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Olympic Committee.

Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives	Years Served
AN Zhiyuan	October 1975-January 1980
YU Peiwen	July 1979-November 1982
LI Luye	January 1983-March 1985
QIAN Jiadong	August 1985-July 1986
FAN Guoxiang	September 1989-September 1992
JIN Yongjian	October 1992-December 1995
WU Jianmin	January 1996-November 1998
QIAO Zonghuai	January 1999-August 2001
SHA Zukang	September 2001-May 2007
LI Baodong	July 2007-February 2010
HE Yafei	March 2010-January 2012
LIU Zhenmin	February 2012-May 2013
WU Hailong	January 2014-February 2016
MA Zhaoxu	March 2016-January 2018
YU Jianhua	February 2018-April 2019
CHEN Xu	May 2019-present

Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs	Years Served
QIAN Jiadong	1983-June 1986
FAN Guoxiang	June 1986-September 1989
HOU Zhitong	September 1989-December 1994
SHA Zukang	March 1995-November 1997
LI Changhe	April 1998-October 1999
HU Xiaodi	December 1999-January 2006
CHENG Jingye	February 2006-November 2007
WANG Qun	March 2008-November 2011
WU Haitao	December 2011-February 2015
FU Cong	February 2015-September 2018
LI Song	January 2019-present