Lawyer Clark T Randt Jr has been named the new ambassador of the United States of America to the People's Republic of China.
Randt has resigned from his position as partner at Shearman & Sterling, a post he has held since 1994. In that time, he headed the China office and oversaw the expansion of the Hong Kong practice.
Randt's boss at Shearman & Sterling, Edward Turner III, congratulated him on the move, describing him as "definitely the right man for the post, having over 20 years of direct experience in China".