U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns attends a press conference in Tripoli, Libya, April 24, 2014. (Xinhua/Hamza Turkia)(zhf)

"The CIA and America's other national security institutions have to reimagine their roles on an international landscape that's profoundly different from the world I encountered as a young diplomat nearly 40 years ago," says William Burns.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President-elect Joe Biden announced Monday that he has picked William Burns, a longtime diplomat serving in the State Department, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

"I'm asking Ambassador Bill Burns to lead the Central Intelligence Agency because he's dealt with many of the thorniest global challenges we face," Biden said on Twitter. "As a legendary career diplomat, he approached complex issues with honesty, integrity and skill. That's exactly how he'll lead the CIA."

Burns "shares my profound belief that intelligence must be apolitical and that the dedicated intelligence professionals serving our nation deserve our gratitude and respect," the president-elect said in a separate statement.

"The CIA and America's other national security institutions have to reimagine their roles on an international landscape that's profoundly different from the world I encountered as a young diplomat nearly 40 years ago," said Burns, who was U.S. deputy secretary of state from 2011 to 2014.