He said in 2020 the image of China in the West had deteriorated because Europeans and Americans -- in particular the media -- had never accepted the Chinese political system or its economic rise.Qin, a fluent English speaker, also stepped up visibility in Washington through public and media appearances in which he explained the Chinese position.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who plans a visit in early 2023 to Beijing as tensions ease, "expects to continue a productive working relationship with Foreign Minister Qin in his new role," a State Department spokesperson said.Originally from the northeastern city of Tianjin, Qin frequently rubbed shoulders with President Xi Jinping before 2018 in his duties as chief of the foreign ministry's protocol department.Qin has previously laid out a vision of China as a country that has little to learn from the West and has invoked its history as a victim during the Opium Wars of the 19th century."