On Saturday, Stephen Ellison, 61, the consul-general in Chongqing, was walking by a river in a nearby village when the woman, 24, slipped on rocks into the deep water.

A video of the incident, which has since gone viral, shows the girl struggling in the fast-moving current before disappearing under a footbridge and emerging face down, apparently unconscious, reports BBC.

Ellison took off his shoes and dived in to save her. She has not been named but was a student. The consul general, who takes part in triathlons, turned the student over, lifted her face clear of the water and swam backwards to the steep sided riverbank.

"She was unconscious, she was not breathing and for a short time we feared the worst. But as we got back to the side, she started breathing again," he told the BBC.

He said the student, who is from Wuhan and attends Chongqing University, was shaken by the experience and recovering slowly. But she was extremely grateful and has invited him to dinner with her family next weekend.

Chinese ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, praised the British diplomat, saying: “Salute to Stephen Ellison, British new Consul General in Chongqing. His name will be remembered not only in Chongqing area but around China. His act of heroism and kindness will be a much-told & far-spread story of China-UK friendship.”

In a tweet, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said: "We are hugely proud of British diplomat Stephen Ellison, Consul-General for @ukinchina in Chongqing, after he bravely dived into a river to rescue a drowning student and swim her to safety."

Ellison, originally from Newcastle, is head of the British mission in Chongqing - where his role is primarily to support bilateral trade links between Britain and China.