Chinese president appoints 8 new ambassadors

Chinese President Hu Jintao has appointed eight new ambassadors to foreign countries, according to a statement from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) on Friday. Hu made the appointments in line with decision made by the Standing Committee of the NPC, the nation's top legislature. Kong Xuanyou was appointed ambassador to Vietnam, replacing Sun Guoxiang. Zhang Xun was appointed ambassador to Syria, replacing Li Huaxin. Zhang Wanxue was appointed ambassador to Serbia, replacing Wei Jinghua. Gao Yanping was appointed ambassador to Israel, replacing Zhao Jun. Tao Weiguang was appointed ambassador to Benin, replacing Geng Wenbing. Cui Zhiwei was appointed ambassador to Macedonia, replacing Dong Chunfeng. Du Qiwen was appointed ambassador to Greece, replacing Luo Linquan. Luo Linquan was appointed ambassador to Ireland, replacing Liu Biwei.