The real China, by a businessman who fell in love with it

What started as a short business trip in China for Jonathan Geldart 16 years ago has ended up as a long love affair with the country.

Geldart was so taken by what he discovered in China that he lived in the country for almost 10 years and has become a fierce advocate of the importance of its place in the world.

Now he seeks to provide a measured and even-handed perspective rooted in his prolonged engagement with China, hoping this helps Westerners gain an appreciation that their at times off-beam views need to be reviewed in light of the stories from the real lives of Chinese people.

“My experiences of working in China and spending time with Chinese people taught me to question the old, accepted stereotypes,” says Geldart, who has written three books about China and is now director-general of the Institute of Directors, a 120-year-old member community of business leaders and directors in the United Kingdom and beyond.

“There are good and not-so-good people in every country in every part of the world, but it does not mean that you should default to mistrust,” Geldart says.

He first came to China in 2008 for a four-day business conference in Shanghai, where he ventured into local streets to explore the city during breaks.

“It was my first encounter with Chinese people, and I found it exciting and energising. The friendliness and openness of the locals I met were wonderful. I was hooked on China from that trip forward.”

Soon after he had a chance to visit Beijing and was later invited to collaborate with the Chinese division of a global accounting firm, where he served as the marketing and brands director on the global board.

“I thought I would be in China only for a few weeks, but I stayed for almost 10 years.”

Although Geldart was never formally taught Chinese, he enrolled in classes both in the UK and in Beijing, fitting them in when he could in a busy schedule. He began to appreciate the complexity and nuances of the language to the point where he could get by in everyday life and beyond.

Geldart says he experienced a very different China to what he had previously been aware of, and he came up with the idea of telling a more balanced story himself.

Based on his work as a businessman, in 2013 he published The Thoughts of Chairmen Now, in which he dispensed the wisdom of Chinese business leaders and entrepreneurs and insights for achieving sustained business success in China.

Thinking that there was a wider truth to be told about China’s people, and not just those in the business world, he then talked to more than 300 people over about two years and in 2015 published Notes From a Beijing Coffeeshop, which provides observations of how people are really doing business and living in today’s fast-changing China. A sequel, Inside the Middle Kingdom, was published in 2017.

“Every Chinese I approached was wonderfully open-hearted and gave their time and thoughts with great warmth and humility. There was a common power and energy from all those I interviewed: the overwhelming feeling was of positivity about the country.”

Geldart left China in 2018 but continued to try to provide a balanced perspective as to how cultural differences do not have to be blockers to progress and understanding.

Geldart says he has received more and more reports of businesses believing it is too difficult to do business in China.

“The reality is quite different as China is trying to open investment opportunities and increase attractiveness across many industries and locations.”

He is very optimistic regarding the future of China-UK business development, Geldart says.

The IoD has signed a memorandum of understanding with the China-Britain Business Council to deliver specialist courses which focuses on good governance, to British businesses in China during 2024.