Qin Gang, a former spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has taken over as minister or deputy chief of mission at China's Embassy in the UK.

This is Qin's third stint in London, after working there as third and second secretary at the Chinese Embassy in 1995-99 and counselor in 2002-05.

When introducing Qin on his London debut on September 13, Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming described the 44-year-old diplomat as an expert on UK affairs and said he wanted him to make a greater contribution to China-UK relations because of his knowledge, insight and experience with Britain and its people.