Xu Xueyuan

Xu Xueyuan developed her career in China’s North American and Oceanian affairs department, with an early overseas posting in Trinidad and Tobago. A Fudan University graduate from Zhejiang, she worked as political counselor in Washington from 2011 to 2015 before returning to Beijing as a deputy director general. In 2018 she returned to the embassy as minister, with responsibilities that included Congress, state and local governments, and overseas Chinese communities. ¹

As chargé d’affaires in February 2023, Xu delivered Beijing’s protest to senior State Department and National Security Council officials after U.S. forces shot down a Chinese balloon. She conveyed the Chinese government’s account of the incident and its demand that Washington avoid further escalation. ²