Liu Jieyi, spokesman for the second session of the 14th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, addresses a news conference in Beijing on Sunday. Liu briefed the media about the session and answered questions. (Zou Hong/China Daily) Veteran diplomat Liu Jieyi, spokesman for the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, on Sunday briefed the media on the session, one day ahead of its opening. Liu, a standing committee member and vice-chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the CPPCC National Committee, was chosen to serve as the spokesman in December. He follows Guo Weimin who served as spokesman for the first session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee. Liu is the 16th spokesperson for the CPPCC National Committee, which established the system of spokespersons in 1983. Liu, a Beijing native born in 1957, brings extensive experience in foreign affairs and cross-Strait relations to the role. He graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University and worked as a translator at the United Nations office in Geneva from 1981 to 1987. In 1987, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he worked in various positions until 2009. From 2009 to 2013, Liu was the vice-minister of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. In 2013, he succeeded Li Baodong as China's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York. From 2017 to 2018, Liu served as deputy head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. In March 2018, he was promoted as the head of the two offices. In December 2022, Liu stepped down. He then took up the role of vice-chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the CPPCC National Committee last year. |