President Hu Jintao of China has appointed a new ambassador to Sierra Leone.

Qiu Shaofang replaced outgone Cheng Wenju, who has now been deployed as Chinese ambassador to the Republic of Latvia.

Shaofang's appointment and that of nine others, is in line with decisions adopted by China's top legislature, the standing committee of the National People's Congress.

Ambassador Shaofang is a graduate of the Guangzhou Foreign Languages Institute and has had diplomatic career which has earned him experience in Mauritius, Chicago, San Francisco and New York.

Qiu Shaofang most recent posting was to Sydney, Australia in 2004 where he took over the post of the consul-general of China.

He was also a former deputy director-general at the Chinese foreign affairs ministry's consular affairs department.

With so many years of service in the Chinese diplomatic core, it is believed that Qiu Shaofang would bring with him to Sierra Leone a deep understanding of the many political and economic aspects that revolve around the global inter-relationships China now has with Africa.