Wu Jianmin

Wu Jianmin (Chinese: 吴建民; March 30, 1939 – June 18, 2016) was a prominent Chinese diplomat. He worked as the spokesman of Chinese Foreign Ministry, ambassador of China to the Netherlands, Geneva, and France, and the president of the Bureau International des Expositions.

Wu was born in Chongqing, China. His parents were from Nanjing, and, when Wu was seven years old, his family returned there. He graduated from the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute in 1959, majoring in French. In his early life, he had worked as an interpreter for former Chinese leaders including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Chen Yi.

Wu had a distinguished career as a diplomat. He became the spokesman of Chinese Foreign Ministry in 1991. From 1994 to 2003, he worked as ambassador of China to the Netherlands, the UN organizations in Geneva and France. In 2003, he worked as the president of China Foreign Affairs University and served for five years. In the same year he was elected as the president of the Bureau International des Expositions, and he was the first Chinese and Asian as well as the first person from a developing country to serve in the post.

On June 18, 2016, Wu died when the car in which he was traveling struck a median while exiting the Donghu Lake Tunnel in Wuhan, China. Wu was on his way to lecture at Wuhan University. He was 77.