Hua Chunying

Hua was born in Huai'an, Jiangsu, China. Both her parents were officials; her father was formerly Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Communist Party of China in Huai’an County, and her mother was the Deputy Director of a local district. She graduated from Nanjing University in 1992, where she majored in English language at the School of Foreign Languages.

In 2012, Hua was promoted to Deputy Director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department of the People's Republic of China. She serves concurrently as the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. In February 2018, during a prolonged absence at the Foreign Ministry, there were reports Hua was investigated for storing large amounts of U.S. dollars in her home. On March 1, 2018, Hua returned to work as Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. On July 18, 2019, she was appointed Director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department of the People's Republic of China, succeeding Lu Kang. She became the second female director-general of the Information Department after Gong Peng, the very first director-general of this department.

In 2018, in response to the US tariffs imposed on trade with China, Hua said "In international relationships, every time you change, every time you break a promise, the country’s credibility is damaged."

After graduation, Hua was appointed as an official to the Department of Western Europe. Over a period of 20 years, Hua worked her way up to the position of spokeswoman. After 1995, she spent four years in Singapore as an attaché. During 2003 to 2010, she was promoted from her position as secretary to that of counselor in China’s Mission to the European Union.