Tag: building bridges of trade

A new Pax Mongolica

This week brought upsetting news of more conflict and chaos in areas of the world that were once integral to the Silk Roads between China and Europe. Geopolitics has filled the streets of Georgia with protests. The violent struggle for power in Syria has re-erupted after a period of smouldering calm. My dream of a peaceful land journey from Beijing to Europe, retracing the steps of the Silk Road, seems more distant than ever. In my last Blog I wrote about the benefits of increasing trade links between China, Europe and Britain. Here I want to look back to a […]

双十一, Double Eleven, more than just a shopping festival?

Double Eleven! One of the most important events of the year for many Chinese people is taking place right now in November. It’s called Double Eleven and it’s the biggest shopping festival in the world. It’s a bit like Boxing Day and the January sales in the UK but on steroids. And curiously it takes place at almost the same time as the western shopping festival called ‘Black Friday’, which this year is on November 24th. In this article I’ll share information about the Double Eleven phenomenon and some thoughts about what it means for the Chinese people. What is […]

A Belt and Road Initiative White paper for Green Development

Belt and Road Railway track in Kenya, July 28, 2022. If in Britain we think about the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) at all, we probably think of it as a policy China is using to increase trade and improve its economy. Well we certainly can’t fault that – it’s exactly what British politicians told us would happen with Brexit! However as a forthcoming White Paper called ‘A Global Community of Shared Future: China’s Proposals and Actions’ explains, China sees the BRI as much more than a set of trade routes. Just as the ancient Silk Roads carried ideas and […]

From China, ketchup for your chips!

These days of course we are increasingly used to the idea of buying manufactured goods from China. But here’s an astonishing fact that will change the way you see the interdependence between China and the world. Fully one quarter of the tomato ketchup now consumed in the world is grown and produced in China – yes, one in every four bottles! What are the facts behind this remarkable story? The first part of the puzzle is that the growing of tomatoes has become a significant part of Chinese agriculture. In 2021 China processed 4.8 million tonnes of tomatoes, 12% of […]