My understanding is that there is a mixture of centralised policy of visa issuance which comes from the China Foreign Ministry and is handed down to each country's Embassy for implementing and operationalizing on a local/regional level. So les37b needs to focus on what the China UK Embassy and it's consulates and visa processing centres are instructed to do. Examples on the interwebs of what other embassies might or might not do have little consequence on what the UK embassy policy does. Note that the relationship between HM Government and the motherland are not as positive as some other countries that are being littered with visa free travel for their citizens. So therefore under the basis of reciprocal arrangements you would be wise to assume that on the basis that you are British citizen you almost certainly have to step through a single entry visa and use it without causing a faux pas before you can assume you can get a multiple entry visa, unless you have some senior/important sponsor for your application. This has been the practice of the Chinese UK Embassy for quite some while and I am not aware that anything has changed.