List of ambassadors of Australia to China


The Australian Ambassador to China is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the Embassy of the Commonwealth of Australia to the People's Republic of China. The position has the rank and status of an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and has lived in Beijing since 1973.

Posting history

Australia's legation was first accredited to the Republic of China and was located in Chungking from 1941 to 1946, with the first Minister, Sir Frederic Eggleston, presenting his credentials to President Lin Sen on 30 October 1941. The legation later moved to Nanking from June 1946 to 1949, initially located at 34 Peiping Road and then 26 Yihe Road. Following the Proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Australian Government recalled its Ambassador from China to discuss recognition of the Communist Government. The Government of the Republic of China, having retreated to Taipei, Taiwan, maintained its embassy in Australia, until December 1972, and occupied the China seat at the United Nations until 1971. In 1966 Australia opened an Embassy in Taipei. In 1972, diplomatic relations ceased following the decision of the government of then- Prime Minister, the Hon Gough Whitlam MP, to recognise the People's Republic of China and the Taipei Embassy closed in 1973.
After diplomatic recognition of the PRC in 1972, Australia established an Embassy in Beijing in 1973, followed by Consulates-General in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu. The latter was opened following release of the Asian Century White Paper by the Gillard government, and calls for an expanded diplomatic footprint in China. On 9 November 2014, then-Foreign Affairs Minister, the Hon Julie Bishop MP, formally opened the Australian Consulate-General in Chengdu. In March 2017, an agreement was signed to establish a fifth Australian Consulate-General in 2018, to be located in the northern city of Shenyang.
From 1991 to 2008, the Ambassador to China was also accredited to Mongolia.
As a result of Australia's recognition of the PRC in 1973, Australia has no diplomatic representation in Taiwan and continues economic, trade and cultural relations through the Australian Office in Taipei.

Office-holders

Ministers to the Republic of China">Republic of China (1912–49)">Republic of China

Ambassador to the Republic of China">Republic of China (1912–49)">Republic of China

Ambassador to the Republic of China (Taiwan)">Taiwan">Republic of China (Taiwan)

Ambassadors to the People's Republic of China

Consuls-General

Chengdu

Guangzhou