British Ambassador to China

Caroline Wilson DCMG

Biography

Caroline Wilson DCMG took up the role of British Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China in October 2020.

Caroline started her diplomatic career at the British Embassy Beijing (1996 to 2000) and served as British Consul General to Hong Kong and Macao from 2012 to 2016. She has worked extensively on the EU and Europe. Caroline was Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Europe Director (2016 to 2019), was seconded to the Cabinet Office European Secretariat (2006 to 2008), and worked in Brussels at the UK’s Representation to the European Union (2000 to 2004). Her diplomatic roles have included Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary (2004 to 2006) and Minister Counsellor in the British Embassy Moscow from 2008 to 2012.  

Caroline has a LLM (Cantab) law degree from the University of Cambridge and a Masters in European Law from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium). She is a qualified Barrister at Law, and a Bencher of the Middle Temple. She was elected Honorary Fellow of Downing College Cambridge in 2018.  

In addition to fluent Mandarin, and some Cantonese, Caroline speaks Russian, French and German. Her Chinese name is 吴若兰.

Caroline was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to British foreign policy.

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British Ambassador to China

The Ambassador represents His Majesty The King and the UK government in the country to which they are appointed. They are responsible for the direction and work of the embassy and its consulates, including political work, trade and investment, press and cultural relations, and visa and consular services.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office