# List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China

The British ambassador to China is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in the People's Republic of China, and in charge of the UK's diplomatic mission in China. The ambassador's official title is His Brittanic Majesty's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China.
The UK recognized the People's Republic of China in 1950, although the PRC did not agree to the exchange of ambassadors until 1972. Prior to this, the United Kingdom had sent ministers to the Qing Empire and variously ministers and ambassadors to the Republic of China. The Embassy offices have been located in Peking (Beijing), Nanking (Nanjing), or both. Currently the British Ambassador to China is Caroline Wilson, she became ambassador in September 2020.

## List of heads of mission

1792–1794: George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney 1815-1817: William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst

### Envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary
#### Imperial China (during the First Opium War)

| Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British Monarch | Chinese Emperor |
| Sir George Elliot | February 1840 | November 1840 | Queen Victoria | Daoguang Emperor |
| Sir Charles Elliot | November 1840 | 12 August 1841 | Queen Victoria | Daoguang Emperor |

#### Imperial China (held by the governor of Hong Kong)

| Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British Monarch | Chinese Emperor |
| Sir Henry Pottinger | 12 August 1841 | 8 May 1844 | Queen Victoria | Daoguang Emperor |
| Sir John Francis Davis | 8 May 1844 | 18 March 1848 | Queen Victoria | Daoguang Emperor |
| Sir George Bonham | 18 March 1848 | 1853 | Queen Victoria | Daoguang Emperor |
| Sir John Bowring | 20 December 1853 | 17 April 1857 | Queen Victoria | Xianfeng Emperor |

#### Imperial China

| Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British Monarch | Chinese Emperor |
| The Earl of Elgin | 1857 | 1860 | Queen Victoria | Xianfeng Emperor |
| Sir Frederick Bruce | 7 November 1860 | 19 June 1864 | Queen Victoria | Xianfeng Emperor |
| Sir Thomas Francis Wade | 19 June 1864 | 7 December 1865 | Queen Victoria | Tongzhi Emperor |
| Sir Rutherford Alcock | 7 December 1865 | 1 November 1869 | Queen Victoria | Tongzhi Emperor |
| Hugh Fraser | 1 November 1869 | 28 November 1869 | Queen Victoria | Tongzhi Emperor |
| Sir Thomas Francis Wade | 28 November 1869 | 6 November 1876 | Queen Victoria | Tongzhi Emperor |
| Hugh Fraser | 6 November 1876 | 29 June 1879 | Queen Victoria | Guangxu Emperor |
| Sir Thomas Francis Wade | 29 June 1879 | 14 August 1882 | Queen Victoria | Guangxu Emperor |
| Thomas Grosvenor | 14 August 1882 | 17 September 1883 | Queen Victoria | Guangxu Emperor |
| Sir Harry Smith Parkes died in office | 28 September 1883 | 21 March 1885 | Queen Victoria | Guangxu Emperor |
| Sir Nicholas Roderick O'Conor (chargé d'affaires) | 22 March 1885 | 15 June 1886 | Queen Victoria | Guangxu Emperor |
| Sir John Walsham, Bt | 15 June 1886 | 28 September 1892 | Queen Victoria | Guangxu Emperor |
| William Nelthorpe Beauclerk chargé d'affaires | 28 September 1892 | 19 November 1892 | Queen Victoria | Guangxu Emperor |
| Sir Nicholas Roderick O'Conor | 19 November 1892 | September 1895 | Queen Victoria | Guangxu Emperor |
| William Nelthorpe Beauclerk chargé d'affaires | September 1895 | 24 April 1896 | Queen Victoria | Guangxu Emperor |
| Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald | 24 April 1896 | 25 October 1900 | Queen Victoria | Guangxu Emperor |
| Sir Ernest Mason Satow | 25 October 1900 | 1906 | Edward VII | Guangxu Emperor |
| Walter Beaupré Townley chargé d'affaires | 3 December 1902 | 21 August 1903 | Edward VII | Guangxu Emperor |
| Sir John Jordan | 19 September 1906 | 12 March 1910 | Edward VII | Guangxu Emperor |
| William Grenfell Max-Muller | 12 March 1910 | 28 November 1910 | Edward VII | Xuantong Emperor |

#### Republic of China

| Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British Monarch | Chinese President |
| Sir John Jordan | 28 November 1910 | 1 March 1920 | George V | Sun Yat-sen→Yuan Shikai→Li Yuanhong→Feng Guozhang→Xu Shichang |
| Sir Beilby Alston | 1 March 1920 | 1922 | George V | Xu Shichang→Zhou Ziqi→Li Yuanhong |
| Robert Clive chargé d'affaires | 1922 | 1922 | George V | Xu Shichang→Zhou Ziqi→Li Yuanhong |
| Sir James Ronald Macleay | 1922 | 20 December 1926 | George V | Li Yuanhong→Gao Lingwei→Cao Kun→Huang Fu→Duan Qirui→Hu Weide→Yan Huiqing→Du Xigui→Wellington Koo |
| Sir Miles Lampson | 20 December 1926 | 3 September 1933 | George V | Wellington Koo→Zhang Zuolin→Chiang Kai-shek→Lin Sen |
| Edward Ingram | 5 May 1932 | 3 September 1933 | George V | Lin Sen |
| Hon. Sir Alexander Cadogan | 3 September 1933 | 19 May 1935 | George V | Lin Sen |

### Ambassadors to the Republic of China

| Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British Monarch | Chinese President |
| Hon. Sir Alexander Cadogan | 15 June 1935 | 5 April 1936 | George V | Lin Sen |
| Sir Robert George Howe | 5 April 1936 | 2 September 1936 | Edward VIII | Lin Sen |
| Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen | 23 September 1936 | 20 December 1937 | Edward VIII | Lin Sen |
| Sir Archibald Clark Kerr | 23 September 1936 | 16 January 1942 | George VI | Lin Sen |
| Sir Horace James Seymour | 16 January 1942 | 23 May 1946 | George VI | Lin Sen |
| Ralph Stevenson | 21 June 1946 | 1948 | George VI | Chiang Kai-shek |

### Chargés d'affaires to the People's Republic of China

The United Kingdom recognized Communist China in January 1950 and posted a chargé d'affaires in the new capital of Beijing. However, China was unwilling to exchange ambassadors until the British consulate in Taipei was withdrawn in 1972.
| Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British monarch | Chinese leader |
| John Hutchison | 12 October 1949 | 1951 | George VI | Mao Zedong |
| Leo Lamb | 13 February 1951 | 1953 | George VI | Mao Zedong |
| Humphrey Trevelyan | 22 August 1953 | 1955 | Elizabeth II | Mao Zedong |
| Con O'Neill | 26 June 1955 | 1957 | Elizabeth II | Mao Zedong |
| Duncan Wilson | 1957 | 1959 | Elizabeth II | Mao Zedong |
| Michael Stewart | 28 August 1959 | 1962 | Elizabeth II | Mao Zedong |
| Terence Garvey | 1962 | 1965 | Elizabeth II | Mao Zedong |
| Donald Hopson | 1965 | 1968 | Elizabeth II | Mao Zedong |
| Percy Cradock | August 1968 | February 1969 | Elizabeth II | Mao Zedong |
| John Denson | 1969 | 18 November 1971 | Elizabeth II | Mao Zedong |

### Ambassadors to the People's Republic of China

| Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British Monarch | Paramount leader |
| Sir John Addis | 26 January 1972 | 17 June 1974 | Elizabeth II | Mao Zedong |
| Sir Edward Youde | 29 August 1974 | 1978 | Elizabeth II | Mao Zedong |
| Sir Percy Cradock | 15 June 1978 | 1984 | Elizabeth II | Hua Guofeng |
| Sir Richard Evans | 23 January 1984 | 1988 | Elizabeth II | Deng Xiaoping |
| Sir Alan Donald | 26 May 1988 | 1991 | Elizabeth II | Deng Xiaoping |
| Sir Robin McLaren | 20 June 1991 | 1994 | Elizabeth II | Deng Xiaoping |
| Sir Leonard Appleyard | 24 September 1994 | 1997 | Elizabeth II | Jiang Zemin |
| Sir Anthony Galsworthy | 29 December 1997 | 2002 | Elizabeth II | Jiang Zemin |
| Sir Christopher Hum | 4 April 2002 | 2006 | Elizabeth II | Jiang Zemin |
| Sir William Ehrman | 15 March 2006 | 2010 | Elizabeth II | Hu Jintao |
| Sir Sebastian Wood | 3 March 2010 | 2015 | Elizabeth II | Hu Jintao |
| Dame Barbara Woodward | 14 April 2015 | 2020 | Elizabeth II | Xi Jinping |
| Dame Caroline Wilson | September 2020 | | Elizabeth II | Xi Jinping |