Great Britain-China Centre

The Great Britain-China Centre is pleased to announce the appointment of Isabel Hilton as its new Chair. Isabel will be responsible for guiding the strategic direction of the GBCC supporting HMG priorities, enhancing its mission to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between the two nations, and building the UK government and wider expertise on China.   Isabel brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role, previously founding the China Dialogue, a bilingual non-profit organisation that focused on climate change and environmental issues in China and abroad. With a distinguished career in broadcast journalism and writing, Isabel has demonstrated an exceptional understanding of China that will be valuable when fostering strong bilateral relations between the United Kingdom and China. Isabel has for many years been working with GBCC to enhance the UK’s China capabilities and national resilience, bringing both her personal insights as well as her expertise in climate change to training programmes and discussions.    Catherine West, Minister for the Indo-Pacific said: “I am delighted to be welcoming Isabel as the new Chair of the Great Britain-China Centre. Her extensive expertise on China will be invaluable to GBCC’s work supporting confident, careful and pragmatic engagement with China across a broad range of areas. This government puts great value on the impact that the GBCC has on developing China capability within the Civil Service and facilitating dialogues between UK and Chinese officials. I’d also like to extend my gratitude to the out-going chair Sir Martin, who has led the Centre admirably with clear and strategic direction over the last decade.”   Isabel Hilton OBE said: “I am honoured and delighted to be appointed as Chair of the Great Britain China Centre. I have known and admired the work of the Centre for many years and I look forward to working with the talented team to further our goals and to build on the Centre’s strong foundations. I am especially grateful to my predecessor in this role, Sir Martin Davidson, for his leadership and exemplary stewardship.”   GBCC’s Executive Director Merethe Borge MacLeod commented: “It is a real privilege to welcome Isabel as GBCC’s new Chair. Isabel has an extensive understanding of the nuances present in the UK-China relationship and her appointment comes at a crucial inflection point in this challenging bilateral relationship. Her appointment provides GBCC with leadership and insight as we seek to further develop the UK’s strategic China capabilities and facilitate robust and pragmatic engagement with China”.   The Board of the Great Britain China Centre extends its gratitude to Sir Martin Davidson KCMG for his dedicated service and significant contributions during his 10-year tenure.

As part of GBCC’s flagship Future Leaders Programme (FLP), March 2025 saw the second annual exposure visit to Beijing. Over 20 FLP alumni from across Whitehall, parliament and UK businesses joined GBCC and the University of Oxford China Centre colleagues for an intensive and immersive China experience. Hosted by the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party (IDCPC), participants spent 1.5 days in the Central Party School as well as visiting universities, businesses and taking part in key roundtables.  As well as the UK-China bilateral relationship as a whole, discussions were centred around thematic areas such as Science and Technology, AI and Climate. It proved a valuable opportunity to connect directly with Chinese counterparts, in order to have deeper discussions around the challenges and opportunities for the future UK-China relationship. Increasing the UK's China capabilities to support safe and effective relations with China that support and protect the UK's core national interests continues to be the foremost priority for GBCC.

🧧蛇年快乐!🧧 Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous Year of the Snake!

Dear all, GBCC is recruiting it's new Chair. Queries on the process or on the role itself: gbccrecruitment(at)fcdo.org.uk https://lnkd.in/ee2YD5fB