Xu Yixin (1911-1994) joined the army and participated in the Northern Expedition War at the age of 16. In 1927, he participated in the third Shanghai workers’ armed uprising, and joined the Communist Youth League of China. He once served as the confidential secretary of the Central Military Commission, and deputy director and executive officer of the General Political Department of Hubei-Henan-Anhui Military Commission. He joined the Long March and the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army. In May 1950, he was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served as deputy director-general and director-general of the Department of Soviet and Eastern European Affairs. In 1954, he was appointed as China’s first ambassador to Albania by Premier Zhou Enlai and later took up the positions as ambassadors to Norway, Syria, Pakistan and some other countries. Xu has served as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs since 1966 and was selected as a Standing Committee member of the sixth and seventh Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.