Photo: Courtesy of China's Foreign Affairs Ministry
Zhao Lijian, Deputy Director General of the Foreign Ministry's Information Department and also one of China's most active and outspoken diplomats, made his debut as spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry at Monday's press conference.  

During the 40-minute press conference, Zhao, China's 31st Foreign Ministry spokesperson, answered some 20 questions from domestic and foreign media on issues including the novel coronavirus epidemic in China and a racist headline in the Wall Street Journal. 

Zhao was the minister counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan before becoming the Deputy Director General of the Foreign Ministry's Information Department in August 2019. 

He serves directly beneath Hua Chunying, the department's director general, and along with Geng Shuang, also spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, and Yu Dunhai as the deputies.  

Zhao has rich diplomatic experience and has been mainly engaged in the affairs of China and its neighboring countries. He is adept at explaining China's situation and policies to the outside world through the media, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Zhao, an active Twitter user since he joined it in May 2010, has drawn global attention for using the platform prolifically in defending China's interest and presenting China's viewpoints. He has been embroiled in a fierce verbal battle with former US national security adviser Susan Rice on Twitter, and also slammed a Pakistani political commentator for criticizing China's policy on religion in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. 

He has more than 240,000 followers and follows more than 180,000 accounts on the platform.

Zhao has become known not only for his fierce tone, but also for his sense of humor. In a tweet in May 2019, Zhao responded to the US government's suppression of Huawei by jokingly tweeting that "Huawei has cut Apple into pieces," and posting the logos of Huawei and Apple. His joke was then reported by Western media outlets including Bloomberg, which said Zhao's tweet showed "a touch of humor."

Since his appointment as Deputy Director General of the Foreign Ministry's Information Department in August, many have been anticipating his debut as spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry. 

The Foreign Ministry officially established the spokesperson system in 1983, making it the earliest government department in China to do so. The Foreign Ministry is currently the only government department in China that holds regular press conferences every workday.

Global Times