Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying has been promoted to the chief of the ministry's Information Department on Monday, as ex-Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang now leads the North America and Oceania division.

Lu Kang, after serving as the chief of the Foreign Ministry's Information Department and as a ministry spokesman since 2015, took the office of director-general of the ministry's Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs. 

On July 18, Lu announced the end of his job as the ministry's spokesperson in his last news conference, saying that he was very glad to have known so many Chinese and foreign friends from the press over the past four years.

Previously a diplomat focused on European affairs, Hua Chunying served as a leading press official and one of the department's deputy heads since 2012.

(With input from agencies)