Observation from London area about one in China? (6)
I believe the answer is:
espial
'observation' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'london area about one in china?' is the wordplay.
'london area' becomes 'se' (abbreviation for South East).
'about' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'china?' becomes 'pal' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'se' written backwards gives 'es'.
'i' put within 'pal' is 'pial'.
'es'+'pial'='ESPIAL'
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for espial that I've seen before include "Seeing" , "secret observation" , "look" , "Spotting" , "notice" .)