Veteran Diplomat Appointed Deputy Head of Communist Party’s International Liaison Arm

Lu Kang, previously the Chinese ambassador to Indonesia, has been appointed vice minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee (IDCPC), which manages the party’s external relations [para. 1]. Lu is now listed as one of the four vice ministers on the IDCPC's website, a position formerly held by Guo Yezhou, who was moved to the role of deputy chief of the Foreign Affairs Commission under the CPC Central Committee [para. 2].

The announcement of Lu's new role came shortly after he said farewell to senior Indonesian officials and returned to China. Lu had served as the ambassador to Indonesia since February 2022 [para. 3]. During his ambassadorship, a notable achievement was the opening of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway. This railway, a collaborative project between China and Indonesia, operates at speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour (217 miles per hour), making Indonesia the only country outside China with such high-speed rail capabilities [para. 4].

Both Lu Kang and Liu Jianchao, the current minister of the IDCPC, have previously served as ambassadors to Indonesia and as director-generals of the information department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) [para. 5]. Lu succeeded Liu in the MFA's information department in 2015, concurrently serving as one of the ministry’s spokespersons. In his debut press briefing in June 2015, he emphasized the importance of the MFA's spokesperson system for understanding China’s foreign policy and pledged his commitment to improving this platform [para. 6].

During his tenure as the MFA’s information department director-general and later in the North American and Oceanian affairs department, Lu was vocal on issues such as U.S.-China relations and the Canadian government's handling of the Huawei senior executive Meng Wanzhou's case. He engaged with major U.S. and Canadian media to convey China's stance on these matters [para. 7]. He remained in the director-general role until 2019 when he was succeeded by Hua Chunying, who continues to hold the position [para. 8].

Lu has had a long-standing diplomatic career, joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1992. He has served in various departments, including international organizations and conferences, arms control, information, as well as North American and Oceanian affairs. Additionally, he held posts such as secretary at China’s permanent mission to the United Nations, counselor at China’s embassy in Ireland, and minister at China’s embassy in the U.S. [para. 9].

Born in May 1968 in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province in East China, Lu studied English at China Foreign Affairs University and holds a master’s degree in public policy [para. 10].