OREANDA-NEWS.The German ambassador to China, who until recently served as an adviser to the Federal Chancellor on foreign policy issues, Jan Hecker, died just a few days after taking up the post of diplomatic representative. This was announced on Monday, September 6, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin. As reported by the dpa agency, the circumstances of his death are not yet fully clear. The AFP news agency was refused to provide additional information on this matter.

«It is with deep sadness and shock that we learned about the sudden death of the German ambassador to China», the German Foreign Ministry stressed. «Our thoughts at this moment are with his family and loved ones», he added.

The 54-year-old Hecker took the ambassador's chair only in August. Since 2017, he has headed the Department of Foreign Policy, Security Policy and policy of stimulating socio-economic development in the Federal Chancellery. According to dpa, he was considered a confidant of Merkel. From 2011 to 2015, he worked as a judge in the Federal Administrative Court, and from 1999 to 2011 — in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Germany.

The duties of the head of the diplomatic mission after his death will be temporarily performed by the envoy Frank Rückert.