The Foreign Office has said it is concerned over reports that a staff member has been detained in China.
Simon Cheng Man-kit, who works at the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong, is missing after crossing the border for a business trip, according to local media.
The Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) said the trade and investment officer at the consulate’s Scottish Development International section had attended a business event in Shenzhen, in south-eastern China, on August 8, but failed to return.
A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: “We are concerned by reports that a member of our team has been detained while returning to Hong Kong from Shenzhen.
“We are providing support to their family and seeking further information from authorities in Guangdong province and Hong Kong.”
The HKFP said that Cheng’s girlfriend had told news outlet HK01 that he had planned to return to Hong Kong on the same day he left.
Cheng is a Hong Kong permanent resident who had studied in Taiwan and the UK and it is not clear whether he held a diplomatic passport or what documents he used to enter China, the HKFP reported.