US ambassador to China resigns
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E-mail China.org.cn, November 20, 2013
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The U.S. ambassador to China, Gary Locke. [File photo] |
Wednesday he will step down from his role early next year for personal reasons.
The U.S. ambassador to China, Gary Locke, whose term began in August 2011, said on Wednesday he will step down from his role early next year for personal reasons.
Locke was the first American of Chinese descent to act as the U.S. ambassador to China. He also served as Secretary of Commerce between 2009 and 2011.
In a statement released by the U.S. embassy, Locke said serving as the US Ambassador to China has been the honor of a lifetime.
"When I met with President Obama earlier this month, I informed him of my decision to step down as ambassador in early 2014 to rejoin my family in Seattle," Locke said.
"Our efforts have focused on job creation in America by increasing exports to China, opening more markets for American companies, and promoting Chinese investment in the U.S.," he said.
"And we have advanced American values by meeting with religious leaders and human rights lawyers, and visiting Tibetan and Uighur ethnic minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang."
Locke is married with three children. A declaration of assets made in March 2011 showed Locke to be the sixth-richest official in the US executive branch.
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