Chen Jiakang was born in January 1913 in Guangji County, Hubei Province and died on 7 July 1970. He served as Vice Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China. In the winter of 1934, he joined the Shanghai Alliance of Leftist Social Science Workers and became a Communist Party member in December the following year. Before the founding of the People's Republic, he worked as member of the Military Committee in Jiangsu Province and Director of its Fourth Section, Secretary to Mr. Zhou Enlai (then Vice Chairman of the CPC), member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the South Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Deputy Director of its Foreign Affairs Group, CPC spokesperson in Shanghai, Director of the First Section of the Foreign Affairs Group of the CPC Central Military Commission, and Secretary to Mr. Dong Biwu, CPC representative in the Chinese Delegation to the San Francisco Conference. He was elected alternate representative to the Seventh CPC Party Congress. After the People's Republic was founded, he worked as member of the Central Committee of the New Democratic Youth League (the predecessor of the Communist Youth League) and Deputy Director General of its Liaison Department (from 1949 to 1950). He served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) as Deputy Director General and acting Director General of the Department of Asian Affairs from March 1950 to September 1952 and then Director General between September 1952 and July 1955. He became Assistant Foreign Minister and concurrently Director General of the Department of Asian Affairs between July 1955 and July 1956. He was appointed Ambassador to Egypt and Minister to Yemen in July 1957, and went on to become Vice Foreign Minister.