Peter Batey (''贝彼德'') CMG OBE (born 1 July 1958) is a British

businessman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for th ...

working in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He is Chairman and co-founder of

Vermilion Partners Ltd Vermilion Partners Limited () is an investment banking advisory firm with international operations. It advises businesses on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructuring Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of re ...

, a

merger and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

and strategic advisory firm focused on China. Batey has served with numerous organisations promoting business ties between China and the UK, receiving an OBE for services to Sino-British investment and trade in 1997, and a CMG for services to UK-China relations in 2015.

Biography

Education and early life

Batey studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He took a sabbatical year in 1979 to undertake the role of President of the

Oxford University Student Union The Oxford University Student Union is the official students' union of the University of Oxford. It is better known in Oxford under the branding Oxford SU or by its previous name of OUSU. It exists to represent Oxford University students in t ...

, before graduating in 1981. Following graduation, he joined

Citibank NA Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City Ba ...

as an executive trainee. From 1982 to 1986 he was political private secretary\ to the Rt. Hon.

Sir Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

, KG, MBE, the Prime Minister who restored diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and China.

Career

Batey moved to Beijing in 1986 as a representative of

Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporat ...

, subsequently becoming Chief Representative for China. In 1989 he and Richard Burn co-founded Batey Burn, a China-focused investment advisory and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

relations

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

. In 1999 Batey became Chairman of APCO Asia Ltd after APCO acquired Batey Burn. Batey left APCO Asia Ltd in 2004 and co-founded Vermilion Partners Ltd, where he serves as Chairman. He was a director of Shuijingfang, a public company listed on the

Shanghai Stock Exchange The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the three stock exchanges operating independently in mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exc ...

as a nominee of Diageo Plc from 2007-2013, and serves as a director of a number of foreign-invested enterprises in China. Batey has served in numerous roles in organisations focused on the development of business and

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

ties between China, and the UK and Europe, including: Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in China (1994–1996), Vice President and President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, which he helped to establish, from 1999–2002, Senior Advisor to the Lord Mayor and

Corporation of the City of London The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

(2006–2008), as well as Chairman of the Great Britain China Centre (2004 – 2014); Since 2012 he has been Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Nominations Committee of the China Britain Business Council, having previously served as a member of the Board and the Executive Committee (2001 – present).http://www.cbbc.org/board/CBBC%20Board%20-%2004%20Feb%2010.pdf

Awards

Batey was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to Sino-British investment and trade in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 1997, and became a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 2015 Birthday Honours for services to Sino-British relations.

References

External links

Vermilion Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batey, Peter 1958 births Living people Alumni of Keble College, Oxford British businesspeople Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of the British Empire