List of ambassadors of Canada to China

The ambassador of Canada to China is the official representative of the Canadian government to the government of China. The official title for the ambassador is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to the People's Republic of China. The current Ambassador of Canada is Jennifer May who was appointed on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on September 22, 2022.^[2]

Ambassador of Canada to the People's Republic of China
Incumbent Jennifer May[1] since September 23, 2022
Global Affairs Canada
Reports to	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Seat	Embassy of Canada, Beijing
Appointer	Governor General of Canada
Formation	November 5, 1942
First holder	Thomas Clayton Davis

The Embassy of Canada is located at 19 Dongzhimenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District, 100600 Beijing 100600, China.^[3]

History of diplomatic relations

Main article: China–Canada relations

Canada was originally represented in China by the British ambassador, who looked after the interests of the entire British Empire and later the British Commonwealth. Canadian participation in World War II made it desirable to establish separate representation in China. Diplomatic relations between Canada and China were established on November 6, 1941, with the first ambassador, Victor Wentworth Odlum, appointed on the advice of Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King on November 5, 1942.^[4] A Canadian Embassy was opened in the temporary capital of Chongqing.^[5] The embassy was then moved to the permanent Nationalist capital of Nanjing in 1946.

The Canadian ambassador remained in Nanjing after Communist troops took the city on April 23, 1949. Canada then maintained diplomatic relations with Communist China at the chargé level from July 1949 to February 1951, when the Korean War made it impossible for diplomatic relations to continue. Canada chose not to post an ambassador to the Nationalist capital of Taipei, maintaining relations through the Nationalist Chinese ambassador in Ottawa.^[6]

Canada recognized the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China on October 13, 1970,^[4] and a Canadian Embassy was opened in Beijing on June 10, 1971.

Ronning, Collins, Small and Menzies (born in Zhangde, Henan) were Chinese born diplomats who possessed significant Chinese cultural knowledge, and in the case of Ronning, near-native language skills. Paynter, Mulroney and Saint-Jacques had served as diplomats to China prior to being appointed ambassador.

John Lawrence Paynter died in Vancouver 10 months into his posting while still serving as Canada's Ambassador to China.

List of Canadian ambassadors to China

No.	Name	Term of office			Career	Prime Minister nominated by		Ref.
		Start Date	PoC.	End Date
1	Victor Wentworth Odlum	November 5, 1942	May 11, 1943	October 4, 1946	Career		W. L. Mackenzie King (1935-1948)
-	George Sutton Patterson (Chargé d'Affaires)	October 4, 1946		March 1945	Career
2	Thomas Clayton Davis	October 24, 1946	May 21, 1947	April 1, 1949	Non-Career			[7]
-	Chester Alvin Ronning (Chargé d'Affaires)	April 1, 1949		February 26, 1951	Career		Louis St. Laurent (1948-1957)	[7]
-	John MacLeod Fraser (Chargé d'Affaires)	January 11, 1971		June 10, 1971	Career		Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1968-1979)
3	Ralph Edgar Collins	April 8, 1971	June 10, 1971	September 17, 1972	Career
4	Charles John Small	June 8, 1972	October 27, 1972	October 8, 1976	Career
5	Arthur Redpath Menzies	June 29, 1976	November 3, 1976	September 23, 1980	Career
6	Michel Gauvin	September 12, 1980	November 14, 1980		Career
7	Richard Vessot Gorham	May 31, 1984	September 5, 1984	1987	Career
8	Earl Gordon Drake	September 10, 1987	October 16, 1987	October 5, 1990	Career		Brian Mulroney (1984-1993)
9	M. Fred Bild	September 12, 1990	October 11, 1990	December 4, 1994	Career
10	John Lawrence Paynter	December 23, 1994		October 31, 1995	Career		Jean Chrétien (1993-2003)
11	Howard Balloch	February 13, 1996			Career
12	Colin Russell (Consul - General)	July 10, 1997			Career
13	Stewart Beck (Consul - General)	June 10, 1999			Career
14	Joseph Caron	July 16, 2001	September 6, 2001	July 28, 2005	Career
15	Robert G. Wright	August 19, 2005	August 29, 2005	June 2009	Career		Paul Martin (2003-2006)
16	Doreen Steidle (Consul - General)	July 4, 2008			Career		Stephen Harper (2006-2015)
17	David Mulroney	May 27, 2009	August 28, 2009	Summer 2012	Career			[8]
18	James Ian Burchett (Consul - General)	March 20, 2012			Career
19	Guy Saint-Jacques	September 24, 2012	December 17, 2012	October 2016	Career			[8]
20	John McCallum	March 7, 2017	March 17, 2017	January 26, 2019	Non-Career		Justin Trudeau (2015-2025)
–	Jim Nickel	January 27, 2019		September 4, 2019	Career
21	Dominic Barton	September 3, 2019	November 22, 2019	December 6, 2021	Non-Career			[9]
22	Jennifer May	September 22, 2022	November 15, 2022		Career			[2][10]

Embassy

The current embassy is located at 19 Dongzhimenwai Dajie in the Chaoyang District.

Official Address in English:
19 Dongzhimenwai Dajie,
Chaoyang District,
100600,
People's Republic of China

Official Address in Simplified Chinese:
中国 北京市 100600
朝阳区
东直门外大街19号

See also

• Canada–China relations
• Canadian Consulate-General, Hong Kong for list of high commissioners and consul general to Hong Kong and Macau
• Canadian Consulate-General, Guangzhou – located at TaiKoo Hui
• Canadian Consulate-General, Chongqing – located at Metropolitan Tower
• Canadian Consulate-General, Shanghai – located at ECO City Building