Road to China

Mar 4 2008 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

PADDY fields, push bikes and the Little Red Book have given way to hi-tech manufacture, jumbo jets and a new philosophy that’s driving Chinese business in ever increasing numbers to Teesside.

Behind the bamboo curtain, 400 British companies seal a deal with a joint partner every year and, as the Olympics puts China on the global economic map as never before, the flame burns bright for those Teesside companies who have already unravelled the mysteries of the East.

With the next trade mission preparing to leave for China’s heavy industrial heartland, which - up to now - has been largely closed to western business, SUE SCOTT reports on the cultural shift that’s worth £170.5m a year to the North-east.