Hua Chunying was appointed the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman on November 16, becoming the ministry's fifth spokeswoman since the post was created in 1983.

Hua, 42, is also Deputy Director of the Information Department of the ministry. She and spokesman Hong Lei will rotate their duties to address the ministry's daily news conferences on weekdays.

Hua began her diplomatic career almost 20 years ago when she joined the former Department of West European Affairs of the Foreign Ministry in 1993. She worked for the ministry in the EU, Singapore and in the Department of European Affairs before joining the Information Department this year.

Hua is expected to balance and complement Beijing's customarily masculine tone in China's complicated diplomatic environment.