Gary Locke is the 10th ambassador of the United States to the People’s Republic of China. He was nominated to the post in March 2011 by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate in July 2011, and he was sworn in and assumed his duties in August 2011.

Previously, Locke served as the U.S. secretary of commerce, helping to implement President Obama’s ambitious agenda to turn around the economy and put people back to work.

Before his appointment to the President’s cabinet, Locke served two terms as governor of Washington, the nation’s most trade-dependent state.

As both governor and commerce secretary, Locke’s innovations in government efficiency, customer focus, and priority-based budgeting, as well as successful and under-budget management of high-risk initiatives, have won him acclaim by nationally recognized authors and organizations, including Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Locke is a graduate of Yale University, with his law degree from Boston University. He is the first Chinese-American to serve as ambassador to China, as secretary of commerce, and as governor.