Sir Christopher read Modern and Mediaeval Languages as an undergraduate at Pembroke College, where he is now an Honorary Fellow. He then joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and his career as a diplomat included postings as Assistant Under-Secretary of State (Northern Asia and Pacific), Ambassador to Poland and Ambassador to China. In the University he is associated with the Centre for International Studies and the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, and continues to follow the politics and international relations of contemporary China.

He is a member of the University Council, Chairman of Cambridge Assessment (from October 2010), a Syndic of the Fitzwilliam Museum, and the chairman or member of numerous University committees.