Alistair Michie
Mr. Alistair Michie (UK National)
Chair, International Council of Centre for China and Globalisation (CCG)
2013 The ‘Friendship Award’ Winner
Secretary General, British East Asia Council (BEAC)
Member, Chinese Government’s Foreign Experts Advisory Committee (FEAC), SAFEA.
Member, Foreign Expert Committee of the International Study Centre of People’s Daily
Alistair Michie is a leading expert in public diplomacy and China issues. For over two decades, Alistair has been committed to building global understanding of China, striving to promote in-depth exchanges and cooperation between China and the world.
In December 2012, as a public diplomacy expert, Alistair became the first British national to be invited to brief the newly appointed Secretary General, Xi Jinping,
Since 2012, Alistair has led top global experts on creating four policy papers to advise the State Council; the topics covered Chinese image building, public diplomacy and development of the financial services sector.
In 2013, the Chinese Government awarded Alistair The ‘Friendship Award’ Medal. This is the supreme honour that the Chinese government confers upon foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to China.
In January 2014, Alistair was appointed as the Chief Advisor to the Chinese Government’s Foreign Experts Advisory Committee (FEAC) within the State Administration for Foreign Experts Affairs. In this role, Alistair was invited to present policy proposals on the service sector to Premier Li Keqiang in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 14th January 2014.
In April 2014, Alistair initiated the British East Asia Council (BEAC) with UK Business Ambassador Ron Dennis CBE and a group of UK top business leaders who share concerns about China UK relations; Alistair was appointed as the BEAC Secretary General. BEAC is committed to advancing positive relations between China and UK at the highest levels through public diplomacy.
On 19th September, 2017, Alistair was appointed as a member of the Foreign Expert Committee of the International Study Centre of People’s Daily by the President Yang Zhenwu. On 1st October 2017, he was appointed the director of the International Council with Center for China and Globalization(CCG), the leading independent think tank in China.
Before developing a focus on China Alistair worked in the UK Parliament and from 1993 advised many multinational business leaders such the CEO of Standard Chartered, Sir Malcolm Williamson. In 1999, Alistair led an initiative that created The Dragon’s Ascent project. This brought together the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Needham Research Institute (NRI) at Cambridge University to create, at that time, the largest ever documentary television series about China. The documentary was broadcaste worldwide and aroused wide impact. In 2002 Alistair was appointed the first Honorary Associate of the NRI at Cambridge University. The project was supported at State Council level by Vice Premier Qian Qichen.
The focus of the work in China of Alistair has been strategic advice to build cross-cultural understanding between the world and China. This has led to a number of advisory roles. The major advisory role of Alistair Michie is as Business and Government Advisor to Hampton Group, which is a global leader on strategic counsel and investment related to China.
During the last 30 years, Alistair has visited and worked over 28 provinces and regions of China.
