Former Chinese state media editor Hu Jian lands new foreign ministry role

Ex-journalist Hu has called for ‘debunking lies’ about China from Western countries

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Hu Jian has been cited as an example of the Chinese foreign ministry’s attempts to draw from beyond the usual diplomatic talent pool. Photo: Handout

Published: 7:00pm, 10 Jan 2025

Former state media executive and top editor Hu Jian has landed a new role at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he will be in charge of implementing personnel decisions, marking a somewhat unusual career move for an ex-journalist in China.

Hu has been named the top-ranked among four deputy directors of the foreign ministry’s personnel department, according to the ministry’s official website on Friday. It is his second position within the ministry.

In his new role, Hu will be responsible for personnel and training ministry officials. His duties will include managing the appointment and dismissal of diplomats posted overseas and the ministry’s Hong Kong and Macau commissioners.

Hu, 46, is a veteran journalist who worked for Nanfang Daily Newspaper Group in the southern city of Guangzhou, where he covered domestic current affairs.

In 2020, he joined the foreign ministry’s department of press, communication and public diplomacy as a deputy director. At the time, the state-run Global Times cited Hu as an example of the ministry’s attempts to draw from beyond the usual diplomatic talent pool.

In his previous role at the ministry, Hu called for “improving the persuasiveness of China’s discourse”, including “debunking lies” from Western countries about China by using facts, according to Chinese media reports.