Zhou Nan
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- This is a Chinese name; the family name is 周 (Zhou).
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| Zhou Nan 周南 |
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7th Director of the Xinhua News Agency, Hong Kong
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| In office January, 1990 – July, 1997 |
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| Preceded by | Xu Jiatun |
| Succeeded by | Jiang Enzhu |
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| Born | December 20, 1927 Changchun, China |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Political party | Communist Party of China |
| Spouse | Huang Guo |
Zhou Nan (Simplified Chinese: 周南; Pinyin: Zhōu Nán) is the former Director of the Hong Kong Branch of Xinhua News Agency, as well as the former Vice Minister of the People's Republic of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[1] He was also a member of the Standing Committee of the 7th and 8th National People's Congress, Member of the 14th Central Committee of the CPC. He is best known as China's Chief negotiator during the negotiations for the Transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong and Transfer of the sovereignty of Macau to China.
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[edit] Early years and education
Born in December of 1927 in Changchun, Jilin Province, Zhou was born under the name of Gao Qinglian. He was the smallest of five children born to Gao Guozhu, the magistrate of Anda County in Heilongjiang Province (黑龙江安达县), and his second wife Wang Yunzhi. At age 14, Gao enrolled at Tianjin's Yaohua High School. Upon graduation, he attended Beijing University from 1944-1948, majoring in philosophy. In 1949, he was appointed Head of the English Department at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
[edit] Early Political Career
In April 1946, Gao Qingzong formally entered the Communist Party of China under the nom de guerre (or Party name) "Zhou Nan", as all party members at the time were required to have aliases to protect their identities.[2] After the end of the Chinese Civil War, Zhou made his name change permanent, and has gone by it ever since. During the Korean War, Zhou served as the Chief of the Political Bureau of the People's Volunteer Army.[1] In 1951, he took up a post as the Third Secretary and later Second Secretary at the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan. After serving in Pakistan for four years, Zhou returned to Beijing in 1955 as Section Chief of the Department of West Asian and North African Affairs.[1] During the Cultural Revolution, He was later appointed First Secretary at the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania, where he served until 1973.
[edit] Career as Vice Foreign Minister
In 1973, Zhou Nan became First Secretary and Councellor of the People's Republic of China's first ever delegation to the United Nations. He was made the PRC's official ambassador to the U.N. in 1981, and was promoted to the office of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1984.[1] As Vice Foreign Minister, he led the Chinese delegation during Sino-British negotiations with the British delegation regarding the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong for 13 years until the official handover of Hong Kong in 1997.
