China has appointed Qin Gang, who currently serves as the Chinese ambassador to the United States, as its new foreign minister.

The state-run China Central Television reported that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress made the appointment on Friday.

Qin is 56 years old. He had served as a ministry spokesperson for more than eight years before being promoted to vice foreign minister in 2018. He was chosen to be China's ambassador to the US in 2021.

Meanwhile, Wang Yi, the current foreign minister who held the job for nine years, will take over from Yang Jiechi as China's top diplomat at the party's decision-making body, the 24-member Politburo.

Wang had been promoted to join the Politburo in October at the age of 69. Under the party's unwritten rule, top officials are supposed to retire at the age of 68.