Achievements

Hugh was born in India, educated at Cambridge, and spent 33 years in the British Diplomatic Service, much of it in East Asia, including China, Hong Kong and Singapore. In the 1980s he headed the British Embassy trade promotion section in Beijing as Commercial Counsellor and in the early 1990s he was Senior British Trade Commissioner in Hong Kong. His final overseas posting was as Ambassador leading the British team in the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group during the last four years of negotiations for the Handover in Hong Kong in 1997.

Hugh Davies with President Hu Jintao in London


Hugh Davies with HKSAR Chief Executive Donald Tsang
Nov 2005


His final home assignment was to arrange and escort the British Prime Minister’s 1998 visit to China. In 1999 he took up an appointment in the insurance business. He has subsequently worked in both Prudential Plc and Old Mutual Plc, planning their entry strategies into the China life insurance market. He has also helped companies in the automobile, energy, and security sectors seeking an understanding of China.

He has a lifetime experience of living, working and getting to understand much of Asia. As a child he lived in India and in Singapore. During his FCO career, he lived in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. He was also at various times responsible for UK relations with these countries and also with Japan and Korea. During his time with Prudential, he was a regular visitor to most of the countries of East Asia. He knows India, Malaysia, and Vietnam well, and has visited Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Korea and Taiwan in a business capacity in recent years. He has visited China at least 3 to 4 times a year in recent years.

Hugh is a Chinese linguist. Between 1999 and 2005 he was an Executive Director of Prudential Corporation Asia Ltd and Senior Group Adviser Asia for Prudential Plc. He assisted in Prudential’s expansion into six countries in Asia over this period, including China. On leaving Prudential in early 2005 he accepted a 12 months’ assignment with Old Mutual and has been instrumental in their entry into the China market in early 2006.

Hugh Davies with Premier Wen Jiabao in London


Hugh Davies with Deng Xiaoping
Aug 1985


As an independent consultant, he also worked for 12 months with MG Rover in 2002/03 during their attempts to find a Chinese partner. In 2004/05, he carried out research and analysis projects on Chinese energy procurement for both Middle East Consultancy (MEC) and for JETRO. With Orient Asian Partners, established in 2005,. clients have included, not only Old Mutual, but also a major international security services firm seeking a better understanding of China’s oil and gas sector.

Hugh is a regular speaker at China related conferences. He spoke at the EU China Summit in The Hague in December 2004. In 2005, he spoke at a Windsor Energy Group seminar on China and the Middle East, an Economist China Business Conference, the Association of British Insurers’ Annual Conference, a Baker & McKenzie Business Forum on Emerging Markets, a Chatham House Conference on Political Risk, and a financial services conference in Shanghai in late October. To date in 2006 he has been a panellist at a Foreign Policy Centre seminar in February.

Hugh holds various positions related to Asia, including Chairman of the China Association, Vice Chairman of the Great Britain China Centre, member of the Executive Committee of the CBBC and of the Committee of the 48 Group Club, and he serves on two University advisory panels, in Cambridge and Nottingham. He is married with two grown up children.