Former US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke was sworn in on Monday as the country's new ambassador to China. Locke is the first Chinese-American to serve as ambassador to China. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton administered the oath to Locke, while his wife and three children looked on during a short ceremony at the State Department.

Clinton said she is confident that Locke is the right person to work towards a positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship with China. Locke has replaced Jon Huntsman, who resigned in April to run for US presidency.

He said, "The United States and China have a profoundly important and complex diplomatic, economic and strategic bilateral relationship - one with challenges, no question, but one which also holds great promise for extended cooperation and collaboration. I look forward to working with the Chinese government to fulfil that promise, but more importantly, to build the positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship that President Obama and President Hu have agreed that our two countries should aspire to."