Philippe Massonnet has been global news director of Agence France-Presse since 2009. He was previously head of the Europe-Africa region. He is a specialist on China, and has written three books on the country. He was an AFP correspondent in Beijing from 1992-96, and bureau chief from 2002 through to the Olympic Games in 2008. He also headed the General News division at AFP in Paris in the late 1990s.