British Council英国文化教育协会

British Council China

The British Council has had a presence in China since 1943, and since 1979 we have been operating as the Culture and Education Section of the British Embassy and Consulate-Generals in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing. We also opened our first English centre in Mainland China in September 2017, based in Nanjing.

Our work in China is of great importance to the global British Council operation, both politically and commercially. With more than 750 staff across our offices in China, we operate a wide range of programmes in English, exams, arts, and education in partnership with local authorities and partners.

We achieve significant impact and reach through our programmes which have engaged millions of young people and thousands of professionals and policy makers across China, including:

Over 1,000,000 people who have taken an exam with us within the past year, be it an English language exam, such as the IELTS exam, or a professional exam, such as the ACCA qualification.

10,000 English teachers and one million students who have benefitted from our English language teacher training programmes in the past two years.

Nearly 155,000 Chinese students who are currently studying in the UK, many of whom have engaged with our work encouraging and supporting student mobility.

One billion people reached and influenced annually through our 2015 Year of Cultural Exchange and Shakespeare Lives campaigns.