(XINHUA)

Yi Xiaozhun, China's permanent representative to the WTO, was appointed as its deputy director general on August 17, the first Chinese to assume the role.

Yi has worked on international trade issues since the 1980s. He was China's vice minister of commerce before taking office in Geneva as the country's permanent representative to the organization in 2011.

Yi, along with three other deputies, will begin his term on October 1.