BEIJING Kyodo China is going to appoint Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao, who has been a diplomat for more than 10 years in Japan, as its next ambassador to the neighboring country, sources familiar with bilateral relations said Saturday.
Wu, who will replace current ambassador Kong Xuanyou, who is an expert in Japan, is expected to work toward stabilizing bilateral ties that remain precarious due to a territorial dispute and other issues.
The sources said that a farewell reception for Kong, who became ambassador in 2019, could be held in Tokyo by the end of February.
They said that Beijing had sought Tokyo's approval for Wu's appointment and planned a meeting between Kong and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before his departure.
Wu has twice worked at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo before - between 1993 and 1998 as well as between 2002 and 2008 - and has served as ambassador to Sri Lanka and was head of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry before his promotion to assistant foreign minister in 2020.
Kong has worked to improve bilateral relations amid a spat over the Japan-controlled, China-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and intensifying confrontation between Beijing and Washington over Taiwan.
The trip to Japan was postponed due to the coronaviruses, and Kong tried to organize a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping in the spring of 2020.