Liu Haixing

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Liu Haixing (刘海星; born April 1963 in Beijing) is a Chinese diplomat and politician who serves as the head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party (the CCP), a senior ministerial‑level post. He is a representative at the 20th CCP National Congress, a member of the 20th CCP Central Committee, and a delegate to the 13th National People’s Congress.

Liu joined the Foreign Service after graduating from Beijing Foreign Studies University in 1985. He studied in Paris at the International School of Public Administration (1987–1988) and later at the National School of Administration (1994–1996). He worked in the Translation Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, served as first secretary of the Chinese Embassy in France in 1998, and was a counsellor at the Chinese mission to the United Nations in 2002. He then became deputy director of the Western Europe Department (2003–2009), later envoy to France, and in 2012 he was director of the European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2012–2015). He was promoted to assistant foreign minister (2015–2017). In 2018 he became vice chairperson of the Supervisory and Judicial Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress. In July 2022, he was appointed Executive Deputy Director of the Office of the National Security Commission.

On 30 September 2025, Liu was announced as the new head of the International Department of the CCP, succeeding Liu Jianchao, who was reportedly detained in an anti-corruption investigation. In November 2025, Liu met with Lars Klingbeil, co-leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, as part of ongoing CCP–SPD party dialogues. In January 2026, he wrote in People’s Daily that systemic crises in capitalism have helped shift global trends in favor of socialism and argued that China’s rise undermines Western assumptions about modernization, offering a new model for developing nations.

Personal life: Liu is married to diplomat Zhang Meifang, and they have a daughter. His father, Liu Shuqing, was also a diplomat and politician, and his family’s ancestral home is in Jiangyin, Jiangsu.