Yang Jiechi, male, Han nationality, is a native of Shanghai. He was born in 1950 and studied at Bath University and the London School of Economics from 1973 to 1975.
A diplomat who focuses on American Affairs, Yang was a second and first secretary for the Chinese Embassy in the United States in the mid 1980s. In 1983, he was promoted to counselor at the embassy.
After returning to China, Yang served briefly in the translation and interpretation department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He became division director and then deputy director-general at the American and Oceania Affairs Department at the ministry in 1990, remaining there for three years.
In 1993, he traveled back to the United States to assume minister and deputy chief of mission responsibilities at the Chinese Embassy. In 2001 he became ambassador to the United States.
From 2005-2007 he served as Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2013. In 2013 he became State Councilor of State Council. He was a member of the 17th and 18th CPC Central Committees and is now a Member of the Politburo of the 19th CPC Central Committee.