Sebastian Wood, Britain’s new Ambassador to China, has officially taken office in January 2010.

While this is his first Ambassadorial appointment he has held a succession of other senior appointments with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, some with a strong China focus.

Sebastian, who is married with four children, learnt Mandarin at the beginning of the 90s, before serving in the Joint Liaison Group in the run-up to the handover of Hong Kong. His other China-related work also included a posting in Washington following US foreign policy in Asia and latterly he was the FCO’s Asia-Pacific Director before secondment to Rolls Royce.

The Ambassador today spoke of his pride at being appointed to Beijing and his keenness to further build UK-China links.

He said: “I feel proud, because this job is now central to UK interests. The re-emergence of China as a major global player is perhaps the greatest single geopolitical event of our times. To work in China today is to participate in history in the making. This brings real responsibility and opportunity for all of us.”

Looking ahead to the next four years he said:

“I would like us to have helped bring about a dramatic expansion in bilateral ties. This will depend on us making the most of the emergence of hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers, exponentially increasing demand for the kind of knowledge-intensive goods and services which the UK is particularly good at providing; on the UK catching, as it should, a good proportion of the coming great wave of Chinese external investment and tourism; and on the rapid expansion of our educational, scientific, cultural and professional ties, marrying the UK's established strengths with emerging China's dynamism and resources. Our Expo contribution this year, with the iconic UK pavilion, will highlight our creativity and innovation at just the right time.”

“I would like China and its international partners to be working much more effectively together on the shared challenges of globalisation and interdependence. I would like us to have turned the tide against nuclear proliferation; to have expanded our joint work to prevent conflict and bring stability and development in the Middle East, South West Asia and Africa; to have established effective systems of global economic governance and co-ordination; to have held protectionism at bay during hard economic times and increased mutual economic openness during global recovery; and together to have blazed a trail for a global low-carbon economy.

“I would like China to have moved confidently forward towards greater economic openness, rule of law, individual rights and pluralism, building the durable stability we all want to see, reassuring China's international partners and helping us make the arguments for continued economic openness in Europe.”

None of this was easy, but not impossible either. He said: “Our network can make important contributions in every one of these areas.”

Sebastian is now embarking on a round of top-level meetings in Beijing and on a programme of visits to cities which will enable him to see at first hand the rapid changes in urban China.