Gao Youzhen

Gao Youzhen (; born October 1954) is a Chinese diplomat who served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to Qatar from 2012 to 2015. Earlier in his diplomatic career, he served in multiple Chinese diplomatic missions across the Middle East and North Africa, including postings in Yemen, Algeria, Egypt, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.

Biography

Gao was born in October 1954 and received a university education. He began his career in 1975 at the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, where he worked until 1985. From 1985 to 1987, Gao served as Third Secretary at the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Arab Yemen Republic. He subsequently joined the Department of West Asian and North African Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, serving successively as Third Secretary and Second Secretary between 1987 and 1990.

Between 1990 and 1991, Gao worked at the Beijing Diplomatic Service Bureau. He later returned to overseas diplomatic service and was posted as Second Secretary at the Chinese embassy in Algeria from 1991 to 1993. From 1993 to 1995, he served at the Chinese embassy in Egypt, where he held the ranks of Second Secretary and then First Secretary.

Gao returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1995 and worked as First Secretary in the Department of West Asian and North African Affairs until 1999. From 1999 to 2003, he served as Counselor at the Chinese embassy in Oman, followed by another counselor posting at the Chinese embassy in Yemen from 2003 to 2005.

In November 2005, Gao was appointed Consul General of China in Dubai, serving until August 2010. After returning to Beijing, he worked as Counselor in the Department of West Asian and North African Affairs from 2010 to 2012. In October 2012, Gao was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to Qatar, succeeding Zhang Zhiliang. He served until April 2015 and was succeeded by Li Chen.