On March 29, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang announced:

From April 1, Ambassador Sun Bigan will succeed Ambassador Wang Shijie as China's Special Envoy on the Middle East Question. As a senior diplomat, Ambassador Sun has a deep understanding of the Middle East question and once served as the Chinese ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. Ambassador Sun will keep contact with all the parties concerned in the Middle East question and the international community, promote a peaceful solution through dialogue and make relentless efforts to move forward the Middle East peace process.