Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang said Wednesday that Sun Bigan will succeed Wang Shijie as China's new special envoy on Middle Eastern issues from April 1.

Sun, the former Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran, is a senior diplomat familiar with Middle East affairs.

Ambassador Sun will continue to contact the relevant parties on Middle Eastern issues and the international community, promote consultations and dialogues, and make unremitting efforts to achieve positive progress in the peace process, the spokesman said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2006)