Norway has had diplomatic representation in China since 1851. During the period of the union between Norway and Sweden, a Norwegian-Swedish Consulate General was established in Guangzhou. In 1853 a Vice Consulate was set up in Shanghai. In 1863 Shanghai became the Consulate General and the station in Guangzhou was turned into a Vice Consulate. Following the peaceful dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905, the appointment of Consul-General Thorvald Hansen to Shanghai was part of the first group of Norwegian envoys to be sent abroad. Under the Consulate General in Shanghai there was also a Vice Consulate in Hong Kong, where Jørgen Jacob Eitzen was appointed Vice Consul.
The first official visit to Norway from China took place in April 1906. This delegation, headed by Dai Hongci, Chairman for the Imperial Court's Cultural Department, included Oslo as part of their tour of Europe to study Western political administration and technology.
The Norwegian Embassy in Beijing dates back to 1919, when it was established as a legation. The legation was in 1930 merged with the Consulate General in Shanghai and remained so until 1954, except when it set up as an Embassy in Chongqing from 1943 to 1945.