Diligent worker who learns from others

Zhai Jun

The 56-year-old Zhai Jun started as an Arabic translator for State leaders and has been working at the Foreign Ministry for 35 years. He was selected from the Beijing Foreign Languages School, which was set up in the 1960s to cultivate people with foreign language skills.

After entering the Foreign Ministry, Zhai was sent to Cairo University to study Arabic for three years. He returned in 1975.

"He has excellent proficiency in the language," said Zhang Hong, dean of the Arabic department of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU).

"He was an outstanding student at that time," said Qi Mingmin, a professor at the Arabic department of BFSU who worked with Zhai in Libya.

Zhai, a former assistant foreign minister, was promoted as vice-foreign minister in charge of West Asian and African affairs yesterday.

Before the elevation, Zhai was assistant foreign minister for three years. Prior to that, he had served as the head of the Foreign Ministry's department of West Asian and North African affairs from 2003 to 2006.

Zhai has also served as a diplomat in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the ambassador to Libya.

Zhai uses a notepad to take down notes from seniors, and he reflects on the experiences of others from time to time, Qi said.

"His excellence is due to his smartness, his willingness to learn from others and his ability to summarize experiences to guide future work, both his and those of his colleagues," she said.