SUVA, March 16-- Fiji has appointed its new ambassador to China, the Fijian government announced Monday.

Ioane Naivalurua, former ambassador at large of Fiji's Department of Foreign Affairs, has been appointed to his new post in China "following a rigorous process of selection conducted in February," according to the country's Department of Information.

Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, Fiji's minister of foreign affairs, said he is confident that Naivalurua's appointment will add more value and strengthen Fiji's relations with the Chinese government and people.

Naivalurua, who is also Fiji's former police commissioner and former commissioner of prisons, is finalizing his orientation program at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Suva and is expected to take up his new posting soon.

"With Ambassador Naivalurua's stint as a diplomat and his vast experience as a career military officer who has served in peacekeeping duties overseas, the ministry is optimistic that he would elevate Fiji's bilateral relations with China to greater heights," the Fijian government said in a statement.

Naivalurua succeeds Esala Teleni, who told Xinhua earlier this year in Suva that he has joined the Fiji-based secretariat of the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) as its special advisor.

Zhang Ping, China's new ambassador to Fiji, presented his letter of credence to Fijian President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau on Feb. 26.

Fiji established diplomatic relations with China on Nov. 5, 1975, becoming the first Pacific island country to do so.