China Consumer 2024 – 14 October (London)

China is rewriting the playbook for virtually all consumer industries – from luxury and beauty to creative and hospitality.

China not only remains the most attractive consumer market for export growth, but is also a future lab for all UK brands aspiring to innovate in consumer marketing, AI integration and customer engagement. 

This is your opportunity to get up to date on the latest trends in China’s consumer market – from sustainability to creating a China strategy and navigating China’s consumer sub-cultures and tribes. You’ll also hear from leading speakers from WPIC, John Lewis, InvestHK, Douyin (TikTok’s Chinese version) and Miller Harris at CBBC’s flagship consumer conference of the year. 

Learn more and register now

CBBC Programme for UK Consumer Brands at FHC China – 10-12 November (Shanghai)

Calling all UK food and drink and consumer brands! Don’t miss CBBC’s Programme for UK Consumer Brands at Food and Hospitality China Shanghai (FHC) 2024.

FHC is one of the best-known trade exhibitions in the food and catering industry and is an important platform for UK brands to enter the Chinese market, with last year’s show featuring over 30 countries, 2,500 exhibitors and over 100,000 unique exhibits, covering an exhibition area of over 170,000 square meters.

Make the most of the 2024 show taking place this November with CBBC’s dedicated FHC programme for UK Consumer Brands.

The popular programme will feature a China food and drink market briefing and networking session, a Shanghai retail familiarisation, and meet-the-buyer day, and a CBBC guided tour of FHC, with targeted market support and tailored advice for participants. 

Register now (registrations close 30 September)

China Retail Mission 2024: Discover the Gateway to China’s Retail Success, 18-22 November (Chengdu, Shanghai and Hangzhou)

Embark on a transformative journey to unlock the vast potential of the Chinese retail market with CBBC’s exclusive trade mission. Over five immersive days, UK brands will benefit from unparalleled access and strategic insights tailored to their expansion objectives.

Participants will:

• Forge strategic partnerships and gain visibility in the Chinese market
• Seize the opportunity to expand their brand’s presence
• Drive exponential growth in one of the world’s most lucrative retail markets

From pre-mission cultural briefings in London to personalised one-to-one consultations, CBBC will ensure your goals are understood and catered to. Explore China’s dynamic retail landscape with guided tours and meetings with prominent retailers, gaining invaluable insights and networking opportunities. 

Don’t miss this chance to expand your brand’s presence and drive growth in one of the world’s most vibrant retail environments.

Register now (registrations close 16 September)

The post How to make the most of China’s consumer market in 2024 appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

An economy just out of quarantine

Since China’s long-awaited travel restrictions were lifted on 8 January 2023, the number of daily inbound and outbound travellers has hit a three-year high, with more than 676,000 people entering or leaving the country.

Following the removal of China’s existing quotas, approximately 84% of the country’s arrivals and departures now come from inland cross-border travel via Hong Kong and Macau. Among the travellers returning to the Mainland are the many students and professionals who had migrated abroad before the pandemic and were only able to return to China following the lifting of restrictions. Business and trade are undoubtedly ready to follow.

Chinese fashion and luxury operators and purchasing teams have returned to Milan and Paris Fashion Week, while government-led trade missions to advanced industrial hubs – including the UK, Germany and Southern Europe – are back on track. CEOs and key representatives of international companies have also resumed their business trips around the region. It’s therefore no surprise that immigration agencies and consulates on both sides are now advising that, after years of difficulties, their calendars are fully booked for the first half of the year.

The future of non-financial FDI

The reinstated link between people, economies and wider regions is now shedding light on the future of non-financial foreign direct investment (FDI), i.e., the total amount of capital injected by companies inside their Chinese subsidiaries, which in the past few years has been limited to a few giant companies in a handful of industries.

If we take Europe as an example – a region with fewer political repercussions throughout these years – Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and France have scaled to 87% of the total investment amount from all 27 member states. Among these, projects by just four large German companies in the automotive and chemical sector make up more than a third of the overall amount.

As well as posing an obvious question about the opportunities available to companies with advanced technology but limited scale, 2023 will likely offer more insight into the sectors actively promoted by China as it looks to revive its homegrown champions.

Top picks from China’s observers include everything health-related, from medical devices, drugs and food supplements, to the more mainstream food and beverage. In fashion and luxury retail, a clear focus has emerged on spending more on collectibles with high long-term value (rare leather bags, top-tier jewellery, luxury watches, etc.), rather than mere garments that now tend to be seen more and more as closet liabilities under the same trend targeting fast-fashion.

For any industry that has invested heavily in the Chinese market during the years of covid restrictions, it’s time to evaluate the effect of China’s “dual circulation strategy” to pump up local demand versus its export-led economy and the resurfacing of travel retail by Chinese tourists if they end up buying overseas, as they did previously.

The challenges for foreign businesses

If we look at the main challenges in the Chinese market for wider businesses and industries, there are clearly struggles regarding how to keep key expatriate personnel in the country. Local rules over individual income tax and social contributions are now making this much more costly than in previous years.

In addition, companies that have applied “China +1 or 2 countries” strategies to reduce the interdependence of their supply chain over the market are considering dispatching seasoned “old China hands” to new growth markets or new projects. As a result, we may see an increase in the number of more senior roles becoming widely available to local personnel with overseas educational backgrounds. That said, companies may then be faced with the challenge of shortening the geographical and so-called ‘cultural gap’ between global headquarters and local outfits.

Restarting from certainties: For most, China is still what it was in 2019

One thing that hasn’t changed throughout the three years of covid is that any scalable business with global ambitions and the belief to turn itself into a multinational corporate (MNC) has to include China on its roadmap with a related strategy as its compass. But what are the main themes that still make China so important for businesses in Asia?

The sheer size of its domestic market and burgeoning middle class

Over the next three years, China is expected to add a further 71 million upper-middle and high-income households. No other economy has consumers with such high spending power and desire for new products. Couple this with the impressive number of suppliers and clients any company can find in its industry, even by simply selecting one of the regional specialised districts along its hyper-developed coastal areas.

The underexposure of Western companies in the Chinese market

Despite what one may think from reading mainstream Western press, a glance at the data on the volume of FDI published by the competent authorities reveals a worrying underexposure of companies from the old continent on the Chinese market, especially when compared to FDI towards the United States.

In 2021, the US recorded a total of US$ 506.1 billion for inbound FDI, with as much as US$ 318.6 billion originating from Europe. In the same period, China recorded an FDI total of approximately US$ 181 billion, with only a mere US$ 4.72 billion of European origin.

That said, it should be noted that the value of this figure is mitigated by the fact that a significant percentage of investments in the country in question come from regional hubs such as Hong Kong and Singapore. Nevertheless, analysts say the real percentage of European investment in China is estimated to be approximately 1/20 of the United States, thus presenting ample potential for growth and consolidation in the future.

China’s interconnected infrastructure

China has always seen investments in infrastructure towards a network of pathways for people and goods as a pre-requisite to attract FDI and develop obsolete provinces and areas. Unlike many of its regional competitors, the county was able to solve most of its geographical challenges through a myriad of world-class transportation hubs (42,000km of high-speed railways, 34 major deepwater ports, 2,000 minor trade ports, 180,000km of highways) supporting a logistics network that has made single-day delivery achievement available for most of its cities.

The appeal of technology development

The pace of industrial modernisation and mass adoption of Internet of Things and AI solutions in the healthcare, security, finance and education sectors via smartphones and apps, together with the robotisation of labour-intensive industries, remains unseen when considering the state of China’s economy in the post-Second World War scenario.

Safety and stability via ever-changing regulation

Although seen as a double-edged sword, China’s bureaucracy has still safeguarded its link with the real economy, avoiding extreme burdens on businesses and consumers. Regulators have overseen potential pitfalls of financial trends in the wider society (P2P lending, property bubble, tech giants’ ambitions on the gig economy), while making sure to grant tax reliefs, subsidies, and benefits to most FDI projects worth supporting.

Undergoing regional integration

Thanks to an increasing number of free trade agreements with other Asian economies and active outreach to stimulate outward direct investment (ODI)-FDI from and towards its economy, China was able to exit the status of a quasi-hermit country and find its own pace in international organisations in less than two decades. China’s access to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) block of nations is the ultimate symbol of its commitment to deepening integration into economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region with benefits for all the parties involved.

Are we ready for China’s comeback?

Analysts have already stated that the success of China’s comeback is in the hands of its households and consumers. How much the local population decide to allocate to purchasing, travelling, savings and investments will determine the way the economy rebounds and impacts neighbouring and overseas economies.

For the opportunities that will emerge throughout the year, companies with investments and projects on the ground still hold a first-class seat and are able, as of today, to phase up a renewed commitment to the jurisdiction.

For those that are still evaluating the pros and cons of exposure and presence in the country, a new set of additional reasons to finally make that step is now hard to ignore, as the historical reasons that have made China such an attractive magnet for global businesses in the past two decades also remain.

Photo by Jerry Wang on Unsplash

The post 2023: The year China reopened to the world appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

It is no secret that China’s games industry is colossal, but there’s also a specific market within the games industry that is becoming too big to be ignored: e-sports. E-sports is the competitive element of video gaming, with amateur and professional competitions played in various games and genres. Since e-sports requires a player vs player (PVP) element, certain genres of game, mainly those with competitive multiplayer elements, are far more suited to having thriving e-sports scenes.

Some of the most popular e-sports games in China include the famous PC multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) League of Legends (LoL), mobile-based Honour of Kings, and the mobile battle royale Game for Peace, which is the official Chinese version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG). Tencent now operates all three of these games (Riot Games, which developed and published LoL in 2009, has been fully owned by Tencent since 2015), so they have a clear incentive to invest in the growth of the e-sports industry in China.

To give a little context on these game genres, MOBA games tend to pit two teams of five players against each other in matches that last an average of around 30 minutes. Battle royales, on the other hand, include up to 100 players in direct combat, and teams of four fight to eliminate one another until only one team remains. If you’ve heard of Fortnite, then you’ve heard of a battle royale game, with Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Warzone being other popular options.

For an idea of how popular Honour of Kings is in China, data taken from China’s five largest live streaming websites showed that in 2021, a monthly average of 781,000 people streamed Honour of Kings gameplay, while an average of 1.8 million daily comments were made on the game’s broadcasts.

The development of e-sports in China

It is clear that the Chinese e-sports market is making waves, accounting for over a third of the global market. E-sports was first recognised by the Chinese government as an official competitive sport in 2003. However, this policy marked the start of a long and bumpy road for e-sports in the 2000s, with multiple policy u-turns and a lack of serious investment. That all changed in 2011 when Wang Sicong, son of the billionaire chairman of Wanda Group, took an interest. His investment in e-sports shifted perceptions of the industry in China, and soon investors were flooding in after him, sensing there was money to be made. It was in this period that many of the prominent e-sports teams in China were founded, including Edward Gaming (EDG) – winners of the League of Legends World Championships in 2021 – back in 2013.

Naturally, since e-sports needs video games to exist, the huge growth in the Chinese gaming industry during this period was also vital in fuelling the fires of e-sports and increasing its popularity. More major breakthroughs came in the late 2010s, largely in the form of further government support to match the substantial financial growth the sector was seeing, with e-sports becoming a university major available for study at over 50 Chinese universities in 2017, and e-sports operators and players both being listed as official professions in China in 2019.

A gamer playing League of Legends

Sizing up China’s e-sports market

Today, the most recent figures value China’s e-sports industry at over £17 billion in 2022. This figure represents a 14% drop from last year, but this doesn’t worry those familiar with the industry. Elaine, a professional e-sports broadcast host and a lecturer at Communication University of China Nanjing’s School of E-sports, puts this down to the pandemic-fuelled artificial, unsustainable growth that esports saw in 2020 and 2021. “People spent extra time at home, and gaming is incredibly accessible, especially mobile games, so more time and money invested on esports-related activities was completely normal. The decline last year also coincided with when the financial cost of two years living with the pandemic really began to hurt people, so consumption was down everywhere, regardless of sector,” she explains.

Despite this momentary dip, it’s clear to those in the industry that the growth in consumption in games, and therefore e-sports too, is only going to go one way: up. Many people point to the 2022 Asian Games, now scheduled to take place in Hangzhou in September 2023, as evidence of how much progress e-sports has made in recent years. For the first time on record, e-sports will feature as a medal event at the Asian Games, and China hosting such a historic event will not go unnoticed. Combine this with the return of other offline e-sports competitions and events now Covid measures have been relaxed, and 2023 is set to be a great year for e-sports in China.

Opportunities for international collaboration

The success of e-sports has not gone unnoticed by international businesses, and there are already huge levels of engagement with Chinese e-sports from companies outside of China. One well-known example of a British institution that’s seen success in China is Wolves. Primarily known in the UK for being a Premier League football team – aka the Wolverhampton Wanderers – Wolves have become associated with a different game in China. The club’s affiliated e-sports teams compete in some of the biggest leagues in the country. And they’re not alone: Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) sponsored Chinese e-sports team LGD Gaming in a move that saw the Chinese team rebranding to PSG.LGD.

Fan acquisition is a key driver of these moves – a fantastic way for brands and IPs to introduce themselves to an entirely new user base. This seems to have paid off so far for Wolves. On Weibo, one of China’s most widely used social media channels, Wolves’ football club account boasts nearly 650,000 followers, only less than the Premier League Big Six teams, Everton, and Leicester. However, their Honor of Kings account has over 3.3 million followers, so the football club’s profile in China is sure to continue growing.

E-sports is a natural area to expand into for football clubs or other similar IPs, for whom building the brand and gaining fans to boost their profile and viewership figures without necessarily making direct purchases is a valuable operation.

Still, for commercial brands, jumping blindly into e-sports isn’t necessarily a quick route to success, and thinking smart rather than being wooed by the numbers is key to finding a successful partnership in the e-sports sector.

Many of the most popular UK brands in China fit into the ‘premium’ category, including Burberry, Rolls Royce and Ted Baker. Yet the majority of e-sports fans in China are Gen Z students, meaning that they’re simply not the customer base that many British brands are targeting. This is where knowledge of the market is vital, as Elaine points out: “brands that focus on cheap mass consumption have the most to gain from traditional partnerships with the largest e-sports events, with KFC being a good example. Students who see a KFC advert during a broadcast of their favourite team may suddenly be inspired to get a takeaway, but what will they do if they see adverts for a car? It’s not relevant to them and they aren’t as likely to remember it, so you have to pick your market carefully”.

However, this is not to say that there are no opportunities for more upmarket brands. A potentially niche but smart partnership from Ferrari saw them sponsor an e-sports event for the NetEase game Fantasy Westward Journey. Interestingly, the game hasn’t garnered much attention outside of China – or even domestically – since it’s a massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), which means there is more focus on the game’s world and story than the competitive PVP aspect.

Ferrari’s partnership with NetEase game Fantasy Westward Journey

So why did Ferrari partner with a game like this? The answer lies entirely in the user base. Fantasy Westward Journey has been live since 2001, and in the 22 years since, has gathered an incredibly loyal fan base, with the key being that this is an age group that started playing games as early as the 2000s. The average user age of this game is much older than more recent e-sports-orientated games, and vitally, they are much more affluent. The players competing in e-sports events for this game aren’t young professionals looking for a cash reward, but those with already established careers who are looking for a feeling of victory and success that money can’t buy. A light show above the Chengdu skyline orchestrated by hundreds of airborne drones and an illuminated message around Guangzhou’s famous Canton Tower are examples of recent methods used to congratulate the winners, and it is through these kinds of events that premium brands can reach their target market.

The outlook for British brands in China’s e-sports market

Sponsoring e-sports events, teams and players, or directly purchasing advertisements during e-sports broadcasts, aren’t the only opportunity available for British brands looking to gain from this huge market. It’s important to note that e-sports is a large industry with a highly complex ecosystem, so there are multiple avenues that British institutions can go down. For example, the growth of e-sports-related majors within universities in China could provide opportunities for British educational institutions with similar offerings. Whether it be attracting Chinese students to these e-sports-related courses in the UK or directly partnering with Chinese universities to offer joint courses, there are many areas where partnerships can be forged outside of the more traditional sponsorships and advertisements.

Another entirely different example comes from ILOVEDUST, a top-class British digital design studio that has worked on multiple projects providing design services to Chinese organisations in the e-sports industry. John McCulloch from the studio stated, “When you look at the scale of the esports industry now in China, it’s amazing to see. With viewing figures comparable with the Premier League and the NBA, it’s natural that such a big industry brings opportunities to us as designers”. There is little doubt that as this industry continues to grow so will the opportunities for British organizations.

The key takeaway is that, first and foremost, the e-sports industry is here to stay. Despite a slight blip in 2022, the predicted growth of the industry is massive, and those involved are all hopeful about the future. An industry of this size naturally creates opportunities for British organisations, but it is important to focus on quality over quantity. A targeted, focused partnership with clear goals is vital to achieving success in what is already a competitive market, so whilst organisations should definitely be considering where opportunities may lie, they should also manage expectations and make sure their research is as thorough as possible, as only then can they leverage this hugely complex market to their advantage.

Call +44 (0)20 7802 2000 or email enquiries@cbbc.org now to find out how CBBC’s market research and analysis services can provide you with the information you need to succeed in China.

The post The surprising opportunities in China’s e-sports market appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

Gin is a relatively new spirit on the shelves of Chinese bars, but it has distinguished itself as the chameleon of drinks. It’s not too sweet, not too strong and can be blended to have floral, fruity, woody and even musky notes.

Yet gin is mostly preferred by the expat community in China, the same community that is setting up brand associations and gin bars in major cities. But local Chinese drinkers are still split between loving the spirit and never having tried it before.

“I think gin, as a spirit of choice and exploration, is fairly new,” says Michael Epelboim, a Shanghai-based gin enthusiast and “gin-fluencer” who has run a series of tasting events. “The simple gin and tonic has always been there… [but] people don’t usually order it unless they want a cheap drink. Gin is not perceived as a luxury drink and even the most famous brands were considered to be mid to low-end products.”

However, with the end of Covid restrictions in late 2022 and bars and restaurants in China seeing a sharp upturn in sales, there is a strong market opportunity for brands with unique branding and a strong online presence.

Who’s drinking and who’s pouring?

Alcohol culture is changing in China, particularly amongst millennials and Gen Z. In the past, the consumption of alcohol was mainly related to official events and businesses, the drinks of choice always being baijiu (a strong, grain-based clear liquor), and later, whiskey. As urban areas in China began to rapidly develop, drinking culture also began to change. Young Chinese people have moved away from the traditional “sipping culture” of whiskey and baijiu to cocktails and casual social drinking.

“The vibe of gin is very different from other spirits. You can drink it during the day, during brunch and at night for all occasions,” says Eric Almazov Laroslav, the owner of a Shanghai gin bar called Botanical Basket. “Gin can smell and taste light depending on the brand, unlike Whiskey, which always smells and tastes like whisky. There are more opportunities with gin and gin tasting since it can taste sweet or dark, and it can smell floral or peppery depending on the blend.”

Where you drink is where you learn

Creating a space to explore gin has been a challenge for gin brands and enthusiasts for years, due to the difficulties posed by getting alcohol licenses in order, finding a local investor to vouch for you and then building up your brand. Gin is a niche that’s still developing itself, but in Shanghai at least, gin-focused bars are building brands that are young, urban and relaxed.

“[To open our first gin bar], we pulled together multiple designers to create both a lifestyle brand and a franchise,” says Thomas Lynch, co-owner of the Gin & Juice brand in Shanghai. “The casual drinking community is large and growing with many different marketing channels [e.g., WeChat and word of mouth].”

Drinkers enjoying gin cocktails at Shanghai bar Botanical Basket

Lynch has been in Shanghai since 2018 and founded the expat connect group FoS, which promotes, on average, between 200-300 events and gatherings a year. Community events are some of the few times brands can introduce themselves to people who might be interested in trying something new. Lynch was able to quickly market Gin & Juice by tapping into the community social marketing platforms and offering unique experiences offline. This type of direct marketing draws in people of all ages and creates a much more relaxed social environment because everyone is interested in the same topic: discovering gin.

Local gin brands, in particular, have found success through outreach and event creation. Brands like Julu and Peddlers regularly participate in hospitality events and bar pop ups where they can feature their brand alongside local bartenders who craft cocktails especially for the events. The combination of entertainment and education is important in a market that is not necessarily familiar with your product.

Local flavours

Local gin brands have also found popularity by adapting their flavours to local and traditional tastes. Brands like Julu Jin, Porcelain Gin and Peddlers Gin have developed their own signature flavours using primarily Chinese botanicals and manufacturing in local distilleries. As a result, they are also able to maintain quality control, ship products quickly around China and create cocktails that suit local palates by working with local bartenders.

“Chinese botanicals are a very big part of [what we do]”, explains Hubert Tse, founder of Porcelain Gin. The brand has experimented with using Sichuan peppercorns to create a “spicy” gin profile or Buddha’s Hand oranges for a more citrusy blend. “We truly want to make a gin that represents China — so all of our botanicals are sourced locally […] from family friends and also the spice markets in Liaoning.”

Being able to directly trace where spices and ingredients come from is a big plus in China’s new drinking culture. In recent years, there has been a push for more transparency from food and packaging companies in China, something that affects both local and international brands.

Branding is everything

In cities like Shanghai, drinking has become a social and cultural event that consumers buy into not just for the drinks themselves but for the experience. Bars that craft their own spirits and reinvent standard cocktails are popular among millennials who are looking for a unique experience when they go out drinking. This has motivated local craft gin makers to promote their products in novel ways. For example, for 2021, Peddlers Gin collaborated with London design studio OMSE to create packaging fashioned after a mahjong table set with a secret compartment containing their signature gin in a new bottle.

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A post shared by OMSE (@omse.co)

Beyond eye-catching branding, one of the best ways to enter the market is to work directly with bartenders and hospitality brands to introduce your brand to the public. Bartenders are taste makers for local drinkers, introducing new brands and new cocktails as well as developing menus and events around the brand.

“Brands need a good bartender, as people here rely on bartenders to give them an introduction and rely on their tastes and expertise,” Almazov Laroslav told us. Many casual drinkers are curious and interested in trying new spirits and drinks but are unsure where to start. “Anyone can order off a menu. But people here want that personal connection, they want a conversation! That’s what gets them interested in trying something new.”

Currently, bartenders are seeing a draw towards sweeter flavours and even an interest in the new “pink gin” craze that creates more aesthetically pleasing drinks.

How can British brands enter the market?

After speaking to bar owners, sommeliers and influencers, three basic ideas emerged for gin brands looking to enter the China market:

1. Find a local supplier who is keen to bring in brands.
2. Develop a unique character to your brand (Is it historic in some way? Are the ingredients special? Is the flavour ideal for mixing?)
3. Make connections with bartenders, hotels and local designers who can introduce your brand to the local community in novel and personal ways.

Lynch is clear on the importance of a good brand strategy for entering the Chinese market. How you enter the market, who you’re connected to and what platforms you’re working on will determine whether you’re making the connections you need or not.

“You need a combination of a strong sales outlet, someone who knows F&B and the local crowd, and mass market appeal,” Lynch explains. “It all comes down to your brand entry strategy: Have the drink on the shelf, work with sales and suppliers, and create the opportunity for people to try this drink. You can do this through specialist events, tasting events, bartender events. Just make sure you’re the brand on offer!”

Call +44 (0)20 7802 2000 or email enquiries@cbbc.org now to find out how CBBC can further help you identify the best e-commerce platform for your brand and target market in China.

The post Is there a market for gin in China? appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

On the Edge: Life Along the Russia-China Border, Franck Billé and Caroline Humphrey

The Russia-China border winds for 2,600 miles through rivers, swamps, and vast forests. It’s a region most businesses rarely interact with, though it’s home to many potential consumers and is a major cross-trade border. Academics Franck Billé and Caroline Humphrey spent years travelling through this important yet forgotten region and found that while it showcases the cultural and economic differences between the two countries, it has the potential to be a growth area in future decades.

The Subplot: What China is Reading and Why it Matters, Megan Walsh

Knowing what China is reading is useful for anyone trying to better understand the Chinese consumer and Chinese society. It’s a great addition to our knowledge of trends, tastes, consumption and, of course, the limits of what can be said and read. Megan Walsh does an incredible job pulling together all the strands of what China is reading right now – including which authors, genres and styles are popular – as well as how they are reading (online, e-books, hard copy).

The Perils of Interpreting, Henrietta Harrison

The Perils of Interpreting is an account of the extraordinary lives of the two translators – Li Zibiao and George Thomas Staunton – who interpreted the words, aims and demands of the 1793 Macartney delegation to Qing China. But what do the lives of two translators 230 years ago have to do with successful business and diplomacy in China today? Well, quite a lot actually, as the stakes are still high, misunderstandings all too easy to make and, ultimately, business in China survives and thrives on the quality of translation – spoken and written – between the parties involved.

Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy, Erich Schwartzel

It’s no secret that Hollywood’s romance with China is over. Despite trying to find the recipe for success at the Chinese box office – more Chinese characters, co-productions, animation of Chinese classics – nothing has worked. Quotas, censors, ever-more outraged nationalistic social media, actor gaffs and a collapse in the US-China trading relationship are now the status quo. The book is not only a must-read for those who work in Tinseltown – it also sheds light on the Chinese consumer market in general, as well as the prospects for British cultural IP in China.

Dragon Tactics: How Chinese Entrepreneurs Thrive in Uncertainty, Sandrine Zerbib and Aldo Spaanjaars

Let’s face it, it’s a tough time to be doing business in China. But Sandrine Zerbib and Aldo Spaanjaars have seen tough times before. The two veterans of China business have now distilled their experiences into five so-called Dragon Tactics: ‘Wolf Culture’, ‘adapt to change or die’, ‘the emperor decides but agility rules’, ‘people come and go, but those who fit stay longer’, and ‘it all starts with data’. Read this book to see how they could apply to your business in China.

The Business of Relationships in China: Creating Enterprise Success with China, Joan Turley

China sees the world through the lens of relationships, and nowhere is this more true than in business. Academic Joan Turley’s book offers clear signposts and insights aimed at helping those working with China better understand the value of relationships in this unique and challenging business culture. These are insights that can be applied well beyond 2023.

Fragile Cargo: China’s Race to Save the Treasures of the Forbidden City, Adam Brookes

While not necessarily business related, this book by former BBC correspondent and novelist Adam Brookes is a great read, describing the daring rescue of ancient treasures from the Forbidden City and how British ships played a small but important role in making sure the treasures survived their journey.

Influence Empire: The Story of Tencent and China’s Tech Ambition, Lulu Chen

WeChat, Fortnite and a myriad of key investments and start-ups all combine to make up Tencent’s world. You simply do not exist in China without some interaction with the company. But despite its massive influence, Tencent remains the biggest Chinese corporation that few have an in-depth understanding of, with CEO and founder Pony Ma one of the most mercurial of China’s billionaire entrepreneurs. Bloomberg Asia correspondent Lulu Chen’s book unravels the secrets behind Tencent’s success and asks just what it takes to be a successful tech entrepreneur in China.

Hong Kong Takes Flight: Commercial Aviation and the Making of a Global Hub, 1930s-1998, John D. Wong

Times have been tough for Chep Lap Kok – Hong Kong International Airport. Passenger numbers have slumped dramatically during Covid-19, the airport has been a virtual ghost town for over two years, and the city’s role as a business centre, tourist destination and major hub for the Asian region are all in question. John D. Wong’s book explores whether Hong Kong can bounce back from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and recover its status as one of the world’s leading aviation hubs, or if the increasing focus on the Greater Bay Area means that cities like Zhuhai and Guangdong will start to take over.

The Amur River: Between Russia and China, Colin Thubron

The inclusion of two books on the Russia-China border on this list underlines its continuing importance, especially with the war in Ukraine still ongoing and the international situation so precarious. This new release by prolific travel writer Colin Thubron offers a unique traveller’s perspective on the present and future of a region where two of the world’s superpowers face each other.

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