Zhao Bin: China's new Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo
Profile and summary of his first 10 weeks in office.
On 1 June, China’s newly appointed Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zhao Bin (赵斌), arrived in Kinshasa to take up his post. This is Zhao’s first appointment in Africa, with the majority of his career spent in either the Department of European Affairs within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) or in the Chinese Embassy in France.
Zhao was born in August 1972 and is a graduate from China Foreign Affairs University. No details about Zhao’s career prior 2012 are publicly available, however, his progression as a diplomat can be summarised as follows:
2012 – 2014: Director, Second Division of the Department of European Affairs, MFA.
2014 – 2018: Counsellor, Chinese Embassy, France.
2018 – 2020: Minister-Counsellor, Chinese Embassy, France.
2020 – 2023: Deputy Director-General of the Department of European Affairs, MFA.
2023 - Present: Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In addition to his role in the Department of European Affairs, Zhao also held the position of Deputy Secretary-General of the Secretariat of Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries, which falls under the purview of his former department.
Zhao’s appointment as the Ambassador to the DRC, whilst a francophone country, is not one you would necessarily expect, given his expertise in European affairs. That being said, Zhao’s experience dealing with France may have actually been the driving force behind his selection. Whilst the US remains China’s main geopolitical rival, it is possible that China is trying to counteract France’s attempt to reset relations in the region.
As the world’s largest supplier of cobalt, the DRC is strategically important for China. According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, between the years of 1995 and 2021, exports from DR Congo to China increased from $1.45M to $11.3B. In 2021, $4.4B worth of cobalt was exported to China, as well as $4.7B worth of refined copper.
In 2021, at a signing ceremony in Kinshasa, the DRC formally signed an MoU for Belt and Road cooperation, making it the 45th African country to do so. Two years later in May 2023, it was announced that relations between the two countries had been increased from ‘win-win cooperation’ to a ‘comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership’. This elevated relationship included a new agreement to regularly re-assess mining deals between the countries, something that the DRC had been pushing for.
Since his appointment, Zhao has actively sought to establish relationships with the country’s political leadership. So far, he has met with the President, the Foreign Minister, the Minister of the Interior, the Defense Minister, the Senate President, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Trade, and the Minister of Labor.
Zhao also recently visited the resource rich south-eastern provinces Lualaba and Haut Katanga to meet with key stakeholders (both local and Chinese). Lualaba and Haut Katanga combined produce around 60% of the world’s cobalt. During his visit, Zhao spoke about the importance of mineral exports from the region, as well as the need to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens and enterprises in the area, partly in response to recent violence.