Family bonds are growing stronger as China-UK relationship endures

Editor's Note:

The Communist Party of China has just concluded its 19th National Congress in Beijing.

“THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT CHINA IS THAT IT IS CHINA’S TURN (TO RISE TO GLOBAL PROMINENCE). ... IT’S ALL ABOUT THE FUTURE. IT’S MY TASK TO COMPLETE THAT PHASE AND MOVE MY FAMILY ON TO THE NEXT 150 YEARS.”

During Simon Haworth’s third trip to China in 2010, the English entrepreneur wrote an email to his father. The reply he received helped Haworth understand that his family has a deep bond with China that stretches back more than five generations — 150 years — far longer than he had realized.

In the 1880s, Haworth’s great-greatgrandfather started the first silk business in Manchester, England, to trade with companies in Jiangsu province by partnering with Jardine Matheson, a British conglomerate headquartered in Hong Kong.

“That (history) makes it very easy for me to commit to China for the long term,” Haworth said. “Also, it makes it easy for China to commit to me.”

The deep family bonds helped Haworth decide to open a business in China. In 2013, he started a biotechnology company in Wuhan, Hubei province, that manufactures advanced equipment to diagnose tuberculosis and help treat the illness.

“You don’t have as high an incidence of TB as some places,” Haworth, CEO of Dynasty Biotechnology, said referring to China. “But you are in the group that has the highest number of new cases in the world. And it’s a real issue.”

The diagnostic kit his company developed has helped tackle the illness in China, leading the Wuhan government to award the 54-year-old the Yellow Crane Friendship Award in 2015.

In addition to his biotech business, Haworth started the Sino-UK Fund, which provides educational exchange programs for students from China and the United Kingdom. In 2015, Haworth and his wife hosted two Chinese students at their house in Cambridge, England.

“I am involved in a cause in which I am interested, and there are still things to do,” he said. “We have had some wonderful moments, such as when two girls were sat in our garden and the Chinese girl gave the English girl some chocolates as a gift.

“The two girls started communicating immediately. They were talking about how to use chopsticks, and then they went back to the English girl’s house so she could learn how to use them.”

Moments such as this prompted Haworth to continue the program and offer a larger number of exchanges to students from both countries, including his eldest son, George.

During a visit by George to Wuhan in 2012, an employee from Haworth’s office was getting married. However, the best man was unable to make the ceremony on time as a result of heavy traffic, so George took his place.

“It’s much, much better to engage people for mutual benefits,” Haworth said, adding that the relationship between China and the UK should be one of mutual engagement for people from both countries, and should be representative of a shared future.

“The most important thing about China is that it is China’s turn (to rise to global prominence),” he said.

Even though his family has been involved with China for more than 150 years, Haworth is looking forward, not back.

“It’s all about the future,” he said. “It’s my task to complete that phase and move my family on to the next 150 years.” Simon Haworth, chief executive officer of Dynasty Biotechnology in Wuhan, Hubei province

SIMON HAWORTH

What do you feel has been China’s biggest achievement over the past five years? What's the most notable change you’ve observed?

To start at the local level in my industry, I can say Wuhan has been transformed during the past five years, and continues to be transformed. But the wider global concept is the idea of China engaging with the UK. China’s engagement with the world in the past five years has really become obvious. What words would you use China today?

Dynamic. Hardworking. place (for business). to The describe most fun What is your impression of General Secretary Xi Jinping?

He has a clear way of addressing issues, and he shows clear leadership. How do you view China's role now?

From my point of view, it’s China’s turn (to rise to prominence). The world needs someone to take their turn, and China has the ability, in terms of people, leadership and skill. It comes with massive responsibilities and opportunities. Do you believe that some of China's experiences or practices could be used to solve pressing global problems? If so, what are they?

China is very familiar with food (safety) and practical issues on a massive scale. And we are going to have these issues, whether in Africa or elsewhere. So, of course, China has very good experience of dealing with a number of global issues. Food is the area we are working on now that could have a great impact on human health. China has an important task in terms of food, and some of what China has learned should be rolled out. Huge agricultural innovation has taken place, with much more agricultural aggregation where everything is controlled. All of that is going to happen in China. In Jiangsu province, they have produced surprising agricultural innovations. In China, you have an area called “emerging agricultural industries”. Medical devices, drugs and agricultural technologies are all part of this. What do you think China will be like in five years' time? How do you view China's longer-term future?

China will be totally open in five years, actually. At the moment, we’ve got five more years to show people outside China something that is really unknown. For the next three to five years, we and others will show how to do that, will show what we’ve done. What is perfectly commercially sensible is to approach business by taking opportunities here and bringing technologies to China. That’s going to be a big change. People realize the size of the Chinese market, and that it is something you can really have access to. The longer-term future is the next 150 years; that’s China’s engagement for me. China is committed to providing opportunities to access Western products for a dramatically rising proportion of the population. In the medical industry, the opportunities are absolutely vast. What's the most unforgettable experience or moment you've ever had in China, or related to China?

It was the moment I received the China Friendship Award in the Great Hall of the People. I had my wife beside me, who was on her first trip to China. It was a wonderful and interesting event, and it’s now a shared experience we can talk about. We will never forget it.