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Following the departure of former Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming last month, Beijing has yet to announce its new envoy to Seoul. Whoever it will be, the next envoy faces existing and new challenges as well as uncertainties posed by increasing geopolitical tensions, according to diplomatic observers in both countries and around the world.

Some scholars also suggested that it would be beneficial if the envoy has a broad understanding of the international situation, extending beyond general knowledge of the Korean Peninsula.

However, they also noted that the personal style of a Chinese envoy is less important in the country's diplomacy than the message that Beijing aims to convey.

On July 25, China said during a meeting between the two countries' vice foreign ministers Ma Zhaoxu and Kim Hong-kyun that it will "appoint an appropriate and excellent candidate through internal procedures" as its envoy to Seoul, according to a foreign ministry official in Seoul.

A PR official at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul told The Korea Times that the embassy currently has no information about the next Chinese envoy.

Xing, who served as China's envoy for more than four years from January 2020, had an outspoken profile and raised controversies due to his confrontational remarks last year when he blamed Seoul for making a "wrong bet" by leaning toward the U.S.

Former Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming speaks during a press conference at the Chinese Embassy, Feb. 4, 2020. Yonhap

Beijing might try to appoint someone who is different from Xing, as part of a broader trend of Beijing's aim to "bring in new ambassador profiles" that are "more diplomatic, more willing to engage in dialogue" and less willing to engage in statements that are controversial, said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, an international relations professor at King's College London.

The recent high-level exchanges reflected some changes and that "in general, China has changed its tone toward (South) Korea," Pacheco Pardo said, noting that the appointment of a new ambassador "always opens the door for a new beginning. And I think that's what China is trying to achieve."

"The new ambassador comes at a time when South Korea is trying to improve relations with China," he said. "Both China and South Korea realize that the relationship was really suffering and that it didn't really make sense to continue down that path … I think this also means the new ambassador will have a slightly easier time in that respect. It won't be easy, but I don't think it will be as bad as with the previous one. It was a really challenging time."

Shi Yinhong, a professor of international affairs at Beijing's Renmin University, observes that bilateral relations continue to face structural challenges, including Beijing's stance on North Korea's Kim Jong-un regime.

"From Seoul's perspective, the key is North Korea's greatly accelerated nuclear missile development and Beijing's explicit appeasement on that," Shi said.

"Besides, Kim's recent declaration of relations with the South as a state-to-state hostility eliminates the appeal of North-South national rapprochement as an element of Beijing's peninsula policy. Other positive factors for the Chinese relations with Seoul, remarkably decreasing, can far from compensate for all the above," he said.

He added that bilateral ties are also strained by South Korea's growing alignment with high-tech containment efforts against China, as well as the high levels of antagonism in public sentiment on both sides.

Also noting the relations as being "turbulent," Pang Zhongying, a professor of international political economy at Sichuan University, observes that South Korea's approach will likely continue to focus on stabilizing its relationship with China.

But he also suggested that uncertainties remain due to several factors, including the strengthening of South Korea-Japan ties, the worsening relations between South Korea and Russia, and the potential reelection of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who might continue his engagement with the North Korean leader.

Chung Jae-heung, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute in Seoul, echoed these views, noting that bilateral ties between China and South Korea are confronted with an increasingly risky international environment. This includes the intensifying U.S.-China rivalry, ongoing crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the Korean Peninsula.

"These four geopolitical flashpoints are becoming more intense. Under these circumstances, a new ambassador must first recognize current international trends, otherwise it will be very challenging to serve the role," he said, noting that South Korea-China relations are no longer just about adopting a bilateral perspective.

Meanwhile, it would be beneficial for Seoul and Beijing to set aside past concepts and work on redefining bilateral relations, said Kang Jun-young, a professor of Chinese studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul.

"If there is only an emphasis on the relationship between China and North Korea, or the relationship between South Korea and the United States, then the communication channel between the two countries may become increasingly narrow," Kang said.

Alongside conveying Beijing's policies, it is also important for the envoy to communicate well with local officials and the general public of the host country, and take the opinions learned into consideration and find a balance, he added.

Vanessa Cai is a reporter with the South China Morning Post. She is currently based in Seoul, reporting for both The Korea Times and the South China Morning Post under an exchange program.