Jean Ping

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Jean Ping (born November 24,1942) has been the foreign minister of Gabon since 1999. He also held that position briefly during 1994.

He was chosen to be President of the fifty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2004.

The son of a Chinese trader and a Gabonese mother, Ping is one of president Omar Bongo Ondimba's closest and longest-serving ministers and is one of the most powerful figures in Gabon. His half-Chinese parentage is one reason, however, why he is never likely to become Gabonese president after Bongo leaves power.

Ping was one of the key figures who helped arrange the visit to Gabon in 2004 of Chinese president Hu Jintao, who used the capital Libreville as the platform for making a land-mark speech promising a new era of engagement with Africa, "without political strings."

Ping was formerly married to Pascaline Bongo Ondimba, president Bongo's daughter who is on the board of directors of several companies including the oil company Total Gabon. Pascaline is now married to Gabon Oil Minister Paul Toungui.