Associated Press: U.N. food agency members vote to elect new director general
“…The 194 member countries, convened at the FAO’s headquarters in Rome for the agency’s 41st conference, [elected] the new director general on Sunday among three candidates from China, France, and Georgia who all have extensive experience in the sector. The candidates for the first time include[d] a woman…” (Zampano, 6/23).

Devex: Chinese candidate takes FAO top job amid U.S. concerns
“Qu Dongyu, China’s vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs, was elected director general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Sunday, overcoming two other candidates backed by the European Union and the United States. In the lead-up to the vote at the U.N. agency’s conference in Rome, Italy, the U.S. circulated a nonpaper to FAO members, obtained by Devex, in which it stated that ‘our primary objective is to beat the Chinese candidate,’ citing ‘strong concerns about Chinese leadership at multinational organizations.’ It encouraged members to vote for Qu’s competitors — the Georgian and French entrants — ‘whomever is best placed to succeed in any given round of voting’…” (Chadwick, 6/24).

Xinhua News: Spotlight: China’s agriculture vice minister elected new head of U.N. food agency FAO
“…[Qu] is the first Chinese official to be chosen as the head of the FAO, in the over 70-year-long history of the U.N. food agency. … Qu received 108 votes out of 191 totally cast, obtaining the majority in one single round of voting. He won over other two candidates, namely French agronomist Catherine Geslain-Laneelle, a former executive director of the European Food Safety Authority, and Georgia’s ex-minister of agriculture Davit Kirvalidze…” (Cardone, 6/23).