HMA Sebastian Wood

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.

Peter Batey OBE

Peter Batey is Chairman of Vermilion Partners. Vermilion is a private equity and corporate advisory firm focused on China. Prior to establishing Vermilion, Peter was Chairman of Batey Burn, which he co-founded in 1989. He became Chairman of APCO Asia upon its acquisition of Batey Burn in 1999.

Peter is the City of London¡¯s representative in Beijing. He is Chairman of the China Index Fund and a director of a number Sino-foreign joint venture companies and wholly foreign-owned enterprises. He is also Chairman of the Great Britain China Centre and a member of both the Executive Committee and Council of the China Britain Business Council.   Peter served as Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in China 1994-96 and co-founded the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China in 1999, serving initially as Vice President and later as President in 2001-02.

Peter has lived and worked in China since 1986, in the first instance assisting in the establishment of the Arthur Andersen & Co.’s Chinese presence, and serving as its Chief Representative in China. He graduated from Oxford University 1981 and in 1982, he became political private secretary to former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath.

He was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 1997 for services to Sino-British trade.