On Thursday 21 February 2008, Du Qiwen (Vice Minister of the Central Foreign Affairs Office of the Chinese Communist Party) will lead a discussion meeting on the topic of "China’s future direction following the 17th Party election" from 4-5 pm.
Mr Du Qiwen is the Vice Minister of the Central Foreign Affairs Office of the Chinese Communist Party, a position to which he was appointed in July 2006. He had previously spent thirty years at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and his distinguished career led him to numerous appointments both in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and abroad.
Vice Minister Du begun his international career at the Chinese embassy in Athens. He later returned to Beijing where he was a member of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Vice Minister Du subsequently had several international postings including Vienna, London, where he was Minister Counsellor, and later Nairobi as Ambassador. At this time Vice Minister Du also became Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT).
In 2003, Vice Minister Du returned to the PRC where he was first appointed head of the Department of African Affairs and, later, of the Department of Policy Planning. He held the latter position until July 2006 when he was appointed deputy head of the Central Foreign Affairs Office.
This meeting will be chaired by Nigel Inkster (IISS Director of Transnational Threats and Political Risk) and will take place on the Fifth Floor at Arundel House, 13-15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX.
If you would like to attend this meeting, please RSVP Virginia Comolli on comolli@iiss.org or Tel 020 7395 9157
