Charles Parton was a long-serving career diplomat in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, spending 22 out of his 37-year career working in or on the People's Republic of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. He has also had postings in Afghanistan, Cyprus, Libya and Mali.

In his final posting, he was seconded to the EU delegation in Beijing, where, as First Counsellor until late 2016, he focused on Chinese politics and internal developments, and advised the EU and Member States on how China's politics might affect their interests.

In 2017 Charles set up his own consultancy, China Ink, and that year was chosen as the UK Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Special Adviser for its China inquiry. He returned to Beijing for 4 months as Adviser to the British Embassy to cover the Communist Party's 19th Congress.

He is a Distinguished Adviser at the think tank the Council on Geostrategy, Senior Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and associate fellow at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin.

Charles has appeared extensively on television and radio and has published articles on China in most mainstream UK media.