美中关系的发展不仅包括政治里程碑，而且包括我们两国人民之间深厚的人际关系。在宣誓就职之前，我们的许多大使都与中国有着根深蒂固的联系。有些在中国当过学生，在北京学习普通话; 有些在中国的不同省份出生。

居住州：密歇根州非职业被任命人任命日期：1979年2月27日国书递交日：1979年3月7日使命终止日：1981年2月13日离职
伍德科克（1911年2月15日——2001年1月16日）是位美国工会领导人, 曾经于1970年到1977年期间担任美国汽车工人联合工会主席。1977年，他从工会职务上退下来之后，被卡特总统任命为美国驻中华人民共和国联络代表团团长。伍德科克在卡特政府任期内在建立两国全面外交关系的协商过程中发挥了关键作用。于1979年被任命为美国驻中华人民共和国大使并帮助实现了美国驻中国大使馆的开业。他是二次世界大战之后首位美国驻中国大使，任期一直持续到了1981年。伍德科克后来在密歇根大学教授政治学。

居住州：马里兰州职业外交官任命日期：1981年7月30日国书递交日：1981年9月24日使命终止日：1985年9月24日离职美国第二任驻华大使恒安石（1920年6月1日——2001年2月6日）在中国山西出生，其父母亲为美国传教士。
恒安石在获得芝加哥大学中国研究专业硕士学位之后，于1950年加入了美国国务院，之后担任过负责东亚和太平洋事务的助理国务卿以及驻多个国家的大使，包括缅甸、埃塞俄比亚和巴基斯坦。他的职业生涯的顶峰出现在1981年到1985年，期间他被任命为驻中华人民共和国大使。恒安石大使是1982年《有关美国售台武器美中联合公报》的主要谈判人，根据该公报，美国表示愿意逐步减少对台军售数量，并重申“世界上只有一个中国”。在他退休之后，恒安石就任位于华盛顿的约翰霍普金斯大学 — 南京大学中美文化研究中心内一个咨询委员会的主席。

居住州：纽约非职业被任命人任命日期：1985年11月6日国书递交日：1985年11月19日使命终止日：1989年4月23日
洛德是1972年上海公报的主要设计师，上海公报开启了与中国的关系。
1993年到1997年期间，洛德是克林顿政府的东亚和太平洋事务助理国务卿。在担任助理国务卿之前，他担任全国民主基金会主席、国际救援委员会副主席以及卡内基国际和平基金会美国和新世界委员会的主席。
他的妻子是包柏漪，出生于中国，是小说《春月》的作者。

居住州：马里兰州非职业被任命人任命日期：1989年4月20日国书递交日：1989年5月8日使命终止日：1991年5月10日
李洁明1928年1月15日出生于中国青岛。1981年到1984年期间，他担任美国在台协会会长。1985年，他被任命为东亚事务副助理国务卿。1986年到 1989年期间，他还是美国驻大韩民国大使，1989年到1991年期间，他担任美国驻中国大使。李洁明大使是唯一一名在美国驻中国和台湾机构都曾经担任过领导的美国人。
李洁明拥有乔治华盛顿大学国际关系硕士学位和耶鲁大学学士学位。在其于国务院任职之前，他在中央情报局驻老挝、东京、香港和台湾的办事机构工作。2004年，他出版了名为《中国通：亚洲冒险、间谍与外交生涯九十年》的回忆录。

居住州：宾夕法尼亚职业外交官任命日期：1991年7月2日国书递交日：1991年8月20日使命终止日：1995年6月17日
芮效俭1935年出生在中国南京，他的父母亲是美国传教士。1956年，他以优异成绩毕业于普林斯顿大学历史专，业并被选举为美国优等生之荣誉协会会员。
他的职业生涯大部分都是在东亚度过的，曾在曼谷、香港、台北、北京、新加坡和雅加达担任过职务。他曾经三次担任美国驻外大使，分别是美国驻新加坡（1984年到1986年）、中华人民共和国（1991年到1995年）和印度尼西亚（1996年到1999年）大使。1996年，他被提升为职业大使，是驻外事务的最高级别。芮效俭大使在国务院担任的最后一项职务是分管情报与研究的助理国务卿。他在国务院服务时间达45年，于2001年一月自驻外事务退休。从国务院退休后，芮效俭大使于2001年加入了基辛格事务所（一家战略顾问公司）并成为该公司的执行董事。

居住州：田纳西州非职业被任命人任命日期：1995年12月19日国书递交日：1996年2月14日使命终止日：1999年7月1日
尚慕杰（1936年出生）于1961年到1977年期间在纳什维尔Goodpasture、 Carpenter、Woods和Sasser律师事务所担任律师职务。在1977年到1995年连续十八年期间他在美国参议院担任初级和高级参议员。在离开参议院之后，尚慕杰于1995年加入了哈佛大学肯尼迪政府学院。1995年9月，他接受克林顿总统的任命担任驻中华人民共和国大使，任职至1999年。

居住州：田纳西州非职业被任命人任命日期：1999年11月16日国书递交日：1999年12月15日使命终止日：2001年5月1日
普理赫（出生于1942年）于1999年11月到2001年5月期间担任美国驻中华人民共和国大使。在担任该职位之前，他是斯坦福-哈佛预防性防卫项目的顾问教授和高级顾问，以及海军分析中心的高级职员。在1999年5月退役之前，普理赫上将在美国海军一共服役了35年，并且从1996年开始至退休，一直是美国太平洋司令部总司令。

居住州：康涅狄格非职业被任命人任命日期：2001年7月12日国书递交日：2001年7月28日使命终止日：2009年1月
雷德是历任美国驻中华人民共和国大使任期最长者。1982年到1984年他在北京居住，期间担任美国大使馆的一级秘书和商务专员。之后他在香港居住了18年，最近的职务是社曼·斯特灵律师事务所的合伙人，并负责律师事务所的大部分中国事务。他是纽约和香港律师团的成员，并且被认为是中国法专家。
1974年，雷德担任美中贸易国家委员会驻中国代表，在1968年到1972年期间，他在美国空军安全事务处任职。

2009年8月28日至2011年4月30日
第九任美国驻中华人民共和国大使
洪博培曾两次当选犹他州长，包括在2008年，他以创记录的得票率当选，赢得所有29个郡的多数选票。
洪博培的公共服务生涯始于罗纳德•里根总统的白宫助理工作，此后的任命包括负责亚洲事务的副助理商务部长、美国驻新加坡大使和美国贸易副代表。作为美国贸易大使时他谈判了数十份自由贸易协议、贸易和投资框架协议，并为美国与中国、台湾、新加坡、澳大利亚、印度、越南、西非、南非和其他亚洲和非洲国家和其他国家谈判了其他双边和多边贸易协定。 他在2001年11月于卡塔尔多哈的全球贸易谈判中扮演关键角色，引领中国和台湾同时加入世界贸易组织的工作。
他在五位美国总统的政府中担任过职务，还曾被共和党提名为2012年总统候选人。
洪博培对亚洲的广泛经验是在毕生的兴趣和经历的基础上发展起来的。他之前曾三次在亚洲生活，能讲一口流利的普通话。他目前担任美国驻俄罗斯大使。

2011年8月16日至2014年2月21日
第十任美国驻中华人民共和国大使
骆家辉大使1950年1月21日出生于华盛顿州西雅图。骆大使是担任美国驻中国大使、商务部长和州长的第一位华裔美国人。
他的祖父从中国移居到华盛顿州，最初找到一个仆人的工作，用工作换取上英语课的机会。
他的父亲也是在中国出生的，是一个小企业主，经营一家杂货店，骆大使在西雅图的公立学校上学的时候曾在那家杂货店工作过。
他曾于1997年至2005年担任华盛顿州长，并于2011年至2014年担任欧巴马政府的驻华大使。

2014年3月20日至2017年1月20日第十一任美国驻中华人民共和国大使
博卡斯大使此前是来自曼塔纳的资深合众国参议员。他自1978年至2013年在美国参议院任职，是曼塔纳任职时间最长的合众国参议员，也是参议院任职时间第三长的参议员。博卡斯大使在参议院财政委员会任职期间曾深度参与促成2000年国会批准与中国的永久正常贸易关系，并为中国于2001年加入世界贸易组织提供便利。

2017年7月12日至2020年10月4日第十二任美国驻中华人民共和国大使
泰里·布兰斯塔德大使在艾欧瓦出生、长大并接受教育。
布兰斯塔德是艾欧瓦任职时间最长的州长，任期从1983年至1999年。在担任州长四个任期之后，布兰斯塔德出任迪莫因大学（DMU）校长。 2009年10月，布兰斯塔德感觉到需要改变州政府的运作方式，并希望“领导艾欧瓦的复兴”，他从DMU退休，并于2010年再度当选为州长。
泰里·布兰斯塔德与习近平主席的交情可追溯到1985年。当时这位中国主席还是来自河北省的一名年轻官员，带领一支五人农业代表团访问艾欧瓦。
布兰斯塔德与妻子Chris有三名子女和七名孙子女。

The U.S China relationship is marked not only by political milestones but also by deep personal connections between the people of our two countries. Prior to being sworn in, many of our Ambassadors have had deep rooted connections to China. Some were students in China, studying Mandarin in Beijing; some were born in different provinces of China.

State of Residency: MichiganNon-career appointeeAppointment:
Feb. 27, 1979Presentation of Credentials: Mar. 7, 1979Termination of Mission: Left post Feb 13, 1981
Leonard Freel Woodcock (February 15, 1911 – January 16, 2001) was an American labor union leader and the president of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) from 1970 to 1977. In 1977 he retired from the UAW and was named head of the U.S. liaison mission in the People’s Republic of China by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Woodcock played a pivotal role in negotiating the establishment of full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China during the Carter administration; was appointed the U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China in 1979; and helped open the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. He was the United States’ first ambassador to China since World War II, and served in that capacity until 1981. Woodcock later taught political science at the University of Michigan.
State of Residency: MarylandForeign Service officerAppointment: Jul 30, 1981Presentation of Credentials: Sep 24, 1981Termination of Mission: Left post Sep 24, 1985
The second U.S. Ambassador to People’s Republic of China, Arthur W. Hummel, Jr. (June 1, 1920 – February 6, 2001), was born inShanxi, China to American missionary parents.
Hummel earned a master’s degree in Chinese studies from the University of Chicago, then joined the Department of State in 1950. In the course of his long career, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and had a number of ambassadorial stints, including Burma, Ethiopia and Pakistan. The highlight of his career came with his assignment from 1981-1985 as Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. Ambassador Hummel was Chief negotiator of the US-China Joint Communiqué on US Arms Sales to Taiwan in 1982, under which the United States stated its intention to reduce arms sales to Taiwan gradually and reaffirmed its view that ”there is but one China.” After his retirement, Hummel served as chairman of an advisory council at the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies, based in Washington.
State of Residency: New YorkNon-career appointeeAppointment: Nov 6, 1985Presentation of Credentials: Nov 19, 1985Termination of Mission: Left post Apr 23, 1989
Winston Lord was the principal architect of the 1972 Shanghai Communique which opened relations with China.
Winston Lord was Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 1993 to 1997 under the Clinton administration. Before assuming his duties as Assistant Secretary of State, Winston Lord had been chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy, vice-chairman of the International Rescue Committee, and chairman of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s National Commission on America and the New World.
His wife is Bette Bao Lord, who was born in China and the author of the novel ‘Spring moon.’
State of Residency: MarylandNon-career appointeeAppointment: Apr 20, 1989Presentation of Credentials: May 8, 1989Termination of Mission: Left post May 10, 1991
James R. Lilley was born in Qingdao, China on January 15, 1928. He was the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan from 1981 to 1984; was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs in 1985; was also the U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 1986 to 1989; and to the People’s Republic of China from 1989 to 1991. Ambassador Lilley is the only American to have served as head of U.S. missions in both China and Taiwan.
James R. Lilley earned his M.A. in international relations at George Washington University and his B.A. at Yale University. Prior to his career with the State Department, Lilley served with the CIA in Laos, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In 2004 he published a memoir titled “China Hands: Nine Decades of Adventure, Espionage and Diplomacy in Asia.”
State of Residency: PennsylvaniaForeign Service officerAppointment: Jul 2, 1991Presentation of Credentials: Aug 20, 1991Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 17, 1995
J. Stapleton Roy was born in Nanjing, China to American missionary parents in 1935. In 1956, he graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, where he majored in history and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
He spent much of his career in East Asia, where his assignments included Bangkok, Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing, Singapore, and Jakarta. A three time ambassador, he acted as the top U.S. envoy in Singapore (1984-1986), the People’s Republic of China (1991-1995), and Indonesia (1996-1999) and in 1996 he was promoted to the rank of Career Ambassador, the highest rank in the Foreign Service. Ambassador Roy’s final post with the State Department was as assistant secretary for Intelligence and Research, retiring from the Foreign Service in January 2001 after serving the U.S. Department of State for 45 years. After his retirement, Ambassador Roy joined Kissinger Associates, Inc., a strategic consulting firm, as Managing Director in 2001.
State of Residency: TennesseeNon-career appointeeAppointment: Dec 19, 1995Presentation of Credentials: Feb 14, 1996Termination of Mission: Left post Jul 1, 1999
James Ralph Sasser (born in 1936) was an attorney with the Nashville law firm of Goodpasture, Carpenter, Woods, and Sasser from 1961-1977. He served eighteen consecutive years from 1977-1995 as the junior and later the senior Senator in the U.S. Senate. After leaving the Senate, Sasser became a Fellow in the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in 1995. He was appointed ambassador to the People’s Republic of China by President Clinton in September 1995 and served until 1999.
State of Residency: TennesseeNon-career appointeeAppointment: Nov 16, 1999Presentation of Credentials: Dec 15, 1999Termination of Mission: Left post May 1, 2001
Joseph W. Prueher (born in 1942) served as the U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China from November 1999 to May 2001.Prior to assuming duties in China he served as a Consulting Professor and Senior Advisor to the Stanford-Harvard Preventive Defense Program and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Naval Analysis. Admiral Prueher completed 35 years of service in the United States Navy in May 1999, and was Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command from 1996 until his retirement from the Navy.
State of Residency: ConnecticutNon-career appointeeAppointment: Jul 12, 2001Presentation of Credentials: Jul 28, 2001Termination of Mission: January, 2009
Clark T. Randt, Jr. is the longest serving United States Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. He was a resident of Beijing from 1982 through 1984 where he served as First Secretary and Commercial Attaché at the U.S. Embassy. He then lived in Hong Kong for 18 years, most recently as a partner with the international law firm of Shearman & Sterling where he headed the firm’s substantial China practice. He is a member of the New York and Hong Kong bars and is a recognized expert on Chinese law.
In 1974, Mr. Randt was the China representative of the National Council for United States-China Trade and, from 1968 to 1972, he served in the United States Air Force Security Service.
Jon HuntsmanAugust 28, 2009 – April 30, 2011Ninth U.S Ambassador to PRC
Jon Huntsman was elected twice as Governor of Utah, including in 2008 with a record percentage of the vote, including the majority in all 29 counties.Huntsman’s public service career began as a White House staff assistant to President Ronald Reagan and has since included appointments as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Asia, U.S. Ambassador to Singapore and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative. As a U.S. Trade Ambassador, Huntsman negotiated dozens of free trade agreements, trade and investment framework agreements and brokered other bi-lateral and multi-lateral trade agreements for the United States with China, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, India, Vietnam, West Africa, South Africa and other Asian and African nations. He played a critical role in launching global trade negotiations in Doha, Qatar in November of 2001, guiding the simultaneous accession of China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization.
He has served in the administrations of five Presidents and was a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
Huntsman’s breadth of experience in Asia has been developed over a lifetime of interest and involvement. He has previously lived in Asia three times and speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. He is currently the U.S. Ambassador to Russia.
August 16,2011 – Feb 21, 2014Tenth U.S Ambassador to PRC
Ambassador Gary Locke was born in Seattle, Washington, on January 21, 1950. He is the first Chinese-American to serve as Ambassador to China, as Secretary of Commerce and as Governor. His grandfather emigrated from China to Washington State, initially finding employment as a servant, working in exchange for English lessons.
His father, also born in China, was a small business owner, operating a grocery store where Ambassador Locke worked while receiving his education from Seattle’s public school system. He was Governor of Washington from 1997 to 2005, and Ambassador to China under the Obama Administration from 2011 to 2014.
Max BaucusMarch 20, 2014 – Jan 20, 2017Eleventh U.S Ambassador to PRC
Ambassador Baucus formerly served as the senior United States Senator from Montana. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1978 to 2013, was Montana’s longest serving U.S. Senator, and had the third longest tenure among those serving in the U.S. Senate.
During his tenure on the Senate Committee on Finance, Ambassador Baucus was deeply involved in orchestrating congressional approval of permanent normal trade relations with China in 2000 and in facilitating China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization in 2001.
July 12, 2017 – Oct 4, 2020Twelfth U.S Ambassador to PRC
Ambassador Terry Branstad was born, raised and educated in Iowa.
He was Iowa’s longest-serving governor, from 1983 to 1999. Following his four terms as governor, Branstad served as president of Des Moines University (DMU). In October of 2009, sensing a need for change in the way state government operates and wanting to “lead Iowa’s comeback,” Branstad retired from DMU and was elected governor again in 2010.
Terry Branstad’s relationship with President Xi Jinping stems back to 1985 when the Chinese President, then a young official from Hebei Province, headed a five-man agricultural delegation to Iowa.
He and his wife Chris have three children and seven grandchildren.