To produce a string in a given character set, use the optional USING clause: : CHARSET « String Functions « MySQL Tutorial

1. MySQL Tutorial
2. String Functions
3. CHARSET

mysql>
mysql>
mysql> SELECT CHARSET(CHAR(0x65)), CHARSET(CHAR(0x65 USING utf8));
+---------------------+--------------------------------+
| CHARSET(CHAR(0x65)) | CHARSET(CHAR(0x65 USING utf8)) |
+---------------------+--------------------------------+
| binary              | utf8                           |
+---------------------+--------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.08 sec)

mysql>
mysql>