China: our ignorance is almost dangerous

little attention is being paid to this dynamic region by Scotland's

universities.

Let's take my own speciality, China. Without doubt, this is the

fastest-growing economy in the world and will have the world's biggest

economy by the beginning of the next century. With over one-fifth of the

world's population inside China's borders, it is not surprising that

Western companies are queuing up to get a foothold in its domestic

market.

China also has an abundance of natural resources and cheap labour, and

despite a stop-go cycle in its economic reform programme, continues to

be the envy of the ex-Soviet bloc in that it is engineering a relatively

smooth transition from Plan to Market. In short, China will soon be a

dominant force in the world economy and will justify, once again, its

Chinese name -- The Central Kingdom.

Far from being a threat to the UK, China can provide tremendous

opportunities for Scottish companies. Our technology and expertise are

valuable to the Chinese, who are under-trained in a great many sectors.

While it is true that the manufacture of many items will shift towards

China, our own access to China's massive domestic market in all sectors

will increase as China strives towards, and eventually gains, membership

of the soon-to-be-established World Trade Organisation.

So what? Well, while opportunity exists, I believe that our companies

are missing out because of a lack of cultural awareness and appreciation

of China's history, language, and way of doing things. Not long ago, we

might have expected that China must appreciate our way of doing things,

but that is not so any more. There are so many countries wanting to do

business with China that it can afford to pick and choose -- and it

does.

The Chinese do business with their ''friends'' and with those who have

made an effort to understand them. There isn't a country in the world

where building ''relationships'' is more vital.

Cultural awareness might also make people understand the Chinese

concept of time.

The Chinese have a history of 5000 years. In business, five years is

nothing to them, but it sometimes seems a lifetime to us! Negotiations

might take many months and even years; not only patience but also an

appreciation of China's bureaucratic procedures is required.

Nevertheless, time in a strategic sense is still essential to us. A

commercial counsellor at the British Embassy in Beijing once told me

that if our companies don't take China seriously in the next five years

and set up long-term co-operative projects with Chinese partners, then

they will miss the boat.

When quizzed on the lack of courses about China in higher education,

the standard excuse is that there is either a lack of resources, or the

demand among students does not justify the establishment of a course.

Let us address those issues one at a time. Resources? Where is the

long-term strategic vision of our universities? To deny our students

access to knowledge about the Far East is to let them leave ill-equipped

for the modern world.

Churning out students in business studies and social sciences without

any understanding about China contributes to our poor business

performance in the market. The value of the UK's exports to China last

year was about #1 billion. Germany was closer to #8 billion.

Demand for courses on China? Speaking as one who has just spent three

years teaching Chinese Politics and Economics at Glasgow University, I

can say that the demand is there. Every year, the number of students in

my post-graduate class increased many times over, while the number of

students answering questions on China made up the bulk of those on the

only undergraduate politics course in which Chinese studies was a

component part.

As far as I know, only one university in the whole of Scotland

provides specialist courses on China -- and that is Edinburgh.

Let us be sensible, though. I am not advocating that all our students

be force-fed Chinese language classes. What I do advocate is that, given

the strategic importance of China, Chinese studies should be given a

higher profile in schools and universities and should be properly

funded.

Only then can our future decision-makers help our companies take

better advantage of the biggest market in the world and rid us all of

unjustified assumptions that China is some medieval communist backwater

instead of a dynamic economy in transition.

We should learn, then, about China's history, economy, politics, and

customs. Some might argue that China's human rights record doesn't merit

our looking at the market or learning about the people. To those people,

I say this: that the most dangerous China is a closed China which is

unexposed to the West. For us, the most dangerous thing is ignorance

about China and how this extraordinary country ticks.

Let us learn more about China to seek that ultimate goal -- mutual

understanding and mutual benefit.

Giles Blackburne, Manager, China-Britain Trade Group Scotland, was

talking to Yvonne Wightman.