On January 2, Ambassador Qin Gang bid farewell to people of various sectors of the United States on Twitter. The full tweet is as follows:

I am completing my duty as Chinese Ambassador to the United States. I came to assume office in 2021 at a time of severe challenges for China-US relations.

During my tenure here, I have been working to implement the common understandings of our two Presidents, serve as a bridge and bond of communication between the two countries, and explore the right way to get along for China and the US in the new era.

I want to pay sincere thanks to the people of the United States for the strong support and assistance given to me and the Chinese Embassy during this period.

In the past 500+ days, I have visited 22 states. I went to government agencies, Congress, think tanks, enterprises, factories, ports, farms, schools and sport fields, and made many friends across the US.

I have been deeply impressed by so many hard-working, friendly and talented American people that I met.

What’s past is prologue. Going forward, I will continue to care about and support the growth of China-US relations, encourage dialogue, mutual understanding and affinity between the two peoples, work for mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between our two countries, and make my due efforts for the wellbeing of the two peoples and for world peace, stability and development.