Wu Jianmin dedicated himself to the pursuit of international diplomacy at the age of 22. Early in his career， he served as an interpreter at the highest levels of government; including for Mao Zedong， Zhou Enlai and Chen Yi. From 1991 to 1994， he served as the director of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， and also as the ministry's spokesman. He was later appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to the Netherlands， Switzerland and France.