Born in 1956, Mr Qu holds a master’s degree and doctorate in Political Science from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (IEP) in 1988 and 1992 respectively.

Before assuming the current position as the Deputy Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Qu has served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Kingdom of Belgium (since 2014).

Mr Qu was President of the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) at China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (from 2009 to 2014), prior to which position he occupied the post of the Permanent Representative of China to the International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. With BIE Mr Qu managed Chinese cooperation and coordinated preparations for the World Expo 2010 Shanghai China (Expo 2010). At the same time, as Deputy Chief of Mission, Mr Qu served as Minister at the Chinese Embassy in France. He was responsible for bilateral affairs and administration of the internal functioning of the Embassy. He also supervised the Permanent Delegation of the People's Republic of China to UNESCO.

Mr QU Xing is a former President of China Institute of International Studies (CIIS). Additionally, he lectured in international relations at the China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU), continuously served as Assistant President of CFAU and successfully held the post of Deputy Dean of the Department of Diplomacy of CFAU. As Vice-President, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at CFAU he trained young diplomats and was in charge of administering the University’s academic and budgetary affairs.

Dr Qu has published plentiful books and articles on China’s foreign affairs and international relations.