The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a brief statement on its website (www.mfa.gov.cn), said Wang Wangsheng had already arrived back in Libya.
“The people of China and Libya have a traditional friendship,” ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in the statement.
“Libya is facing a new phase in its history, and China is willing to develop friendly cooperation with Libya for the benefit of both peoples on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit,” she said.
China had a strained relationship with Libya’s interim government after Beijing’s frosty reaction to NATO-led air strikes and attempts by Chinese firms to sell weapons to former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
But it says ties with the major oil producer are back to normal.
China recognised the NTC as Libya’s “ruling authority” last month, saying the umbrella organisation of former dissidents and rebel factions opposed to Gaddafi’s rule had vowed to respect Beijing’s economic interests.
Libya’s interim council has promised rewards for those who took a leading role in backing the revolt against Gaddafi, raising concern that China could be at a disadvantage in the important energy sector.
China did not use its U.N. Security Council veto power in March to block a resolution that authorised the NATO bombing campaign against Gaddafi’s forces, but it condemned the subsequent expansion of strikes and repeatedly urged compromise between Gaddafi’s government and its opponents.
China is the world’s second-biggest oil consumer and last year obtained 3 percent of its imported crude from Libya.