China appoints new ambassador to Panama

In the photo Xu Xueyuan. Credit: X account of the Chinese Embassy in Panama.

This Monday, March 11, Xu Xueyuan, the new ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Panamá arrived in her new host country. Xueyuan was met by the Deputy Director General of Protocol and State Ceremonial of the Foreign Ministry, David Castro upon arriving in the Central American nation.

In the coming days, Xueyuan is expected to present her credentials to the Foreign Ministry and the Presidency of the Republic of Panama and assume her new role.

Ambassador Xueyuan arrives to replace the outgoing Wei Qiang, who was the first to occupy that position following the establishment of diplomatic relations between both countries on June 12, 2017.

During the 7 years of cooperation between both countries, 47 bilateral agreements have been signed (19 of them during the first year of diplomatic relations), in matters of economy and trade, banking, diplomacy, maritime transport, agriculture, health, tourism, infrastructure and development cooperation.

Panama is an extremely relevant regional country for Chinese diplomacy, not only because of its commercial potential, but also because the Chinese community in Panama is the largest in Central America and represents 10% of the Panamanian population.

Before leaving, Wei Qiang met with the Minister of Agricultural Development, Augusto Valderrama, in order to reiterate China’s commitment to the agricultural and commercial relationship that exists between both countries. In September 2023, a Memorandum of Understanding on Agricultural Cooperation was signed.

By June 2023, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, the main destination for Panamanian exports was China, more than doubling second place Japan.

Prior to assuming her new role, Xueyuan served as a minister at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States, a position she held since 2018. She was responsible for subnational affairs, congressional affairs, and China’s relations with other countries.

The Ambassador has also worked in the Department of North American and Oceanic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1996 and 1998 and later between 2001 and 2010.

She was political affairs counselor at the Embassy in Washington, D.C. between 2011 and 2015, and then served as deputy director general of the Department of North American and Oceania Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing until 2018.