China’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Qin Gang pledged to maintain close relations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday, adding that the top diplomats of China and Russia held a telephone conversation earlier in the day.

'I am ready to maintain close relations with [Russian] Foreign Minister [Sergey Lavrov],' the statement quoted Qin Gang as saying.

Qin Gang, 56, served as the Chinese Ambassador to the United States between July 2021 and December 2022.

On December 30, 2022, a decision was made at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to appoint Qin China’s new Foreign Minister.

Qin Gang succeeds Wang Yi, who had headed the Chinese Foreign Ministry since 2013.