About The Club

he People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949 and the history of the 48 Group stems from the early 1950s when the founding ‘Icebreakers’ were the first Westerners to establish trade relations.In 1950s the United Kingdom became one of the first countries to recognise the People’s Republic of China but relations rapidly became hostile and frozen because of the war in Korea. Nevertheless, in 1951 the UK joined in a US-led embargo on the sale to China of goods of “strategic importance”.

There was a thaw in British thinking when, in 1952, Lord Boyd-Orr, the first Director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, stated publicly that:

Then early in the 1950s he led a delegation of British companies at a multinational economic conference in Moscow. During that trailblazing mission the British delegation began historic talks with representatives of the New China government. Those early talks helped kick-start East-West trade during the then ‘Cold War’.

In 1953 Lord Boyd-Orr, who went on to form the British Council for the Promotion of International Trade (BCPIT), took 16 representatives of British companies, including Jack Perry, to China to discuss trade. The 1953 ‘Icebreaker Mission’ paved the way for the now fabled 1954 trade mission with 48 businessmen from British companies, which later became known generically as The 48 Group – The ‘Icebreakers’ and whose trail-blazing initiatives have become a long time part of British-Chinese history.

The 48 Group Club is an independent business network committed to promoting positive links with China. The Club’s history goes back to the early 1950s, when the founding “Icebreakers” were the first Westerners to break through the worldwide trade embargo on China and establish mutually beneficial trade relations with the newly formed People’s Republic of China.

The Club now has over 600 British and Chinese members, both corporate and individual.

Member companies and institutions vary in size from the multinational to the micro and come from all sectors: industry, commerce, government, education, sports, culture and the law, and others are high-level politicians, diplomats, academics and individuals and groups focusing on cultural relations.

The Club offers an extensive programme of events that are an important – and often key – means of establishing and maintaining contacts (guanxi) for those active in building friendly relations with China in any field from commerce to culture.

Centre is Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, visiting the UK in 2004, and pictured with, amongst others, the late Percy Timberlake who was one of the founders and later Vice-President of the 48 Group Club. Next to him is Luise Schafer, former Vice Chair of the 48 Group Club, and who now is based in Shanghai. The current Chairman of the 48 Group Club, Stephen Perry, is pictured on the right of Premier Wen.

图中为中国总理温家宝2004年访英期间，其他人包括 48家集团俱乐部创始人之一、后任其副总裁的珀西·廷 伯雷（已故）。现任48家集团俱乐部主席斯蒂芬·佩里 在图中温总理的右边，珀西·廷伯雷旁边的是现在上海 的48家集团俱乐部前任副主席商颖露。

摘自珀西·廷伯雷所著《破冰者在中国的故 事》，1994年出版。珀西·廷伯雷是48家集团最早的工商界人士之一，2004年辞世。

‘Equality and Mutual Benefit’ or in Chinese ‘Pingdeng Huli’, the motto of The 48 Group of British Traders with China, echoes the words used by Zhou Enlai, China’s much-loved Premier from 1949 to 1976, who first used the phrase in public in 1953.

He was setting out China’s ‘Five Principles’ of cooperation with the outside world to a visiting Indian delegation. By taking up such a principle from its earliest days (today we’d call it a mission statement), The 48 Group demonstrated how closely it would follow and seek to understand China’s developments. In this way it would try to match China’s development needs by introducing relevant British companies and their products to the market. This was often in the face of adversity and always with limited resources. As a result, Britain and The 48 Group earned a special place in the annals of international trade history – the first western country to open trade with the new China, on a platform of mutual respect.

The strength and success of the Group and its forerunners were not financial, but lay in the work of a few visionaries such as Jack Perry, Tod Sloan, Roland Berger, Percy Timberlake, Professor Joan Robinson and the British companies which formed its membership – a mutually supportive network. Equally important was the very close relationship with Chinese counterparts, for example the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade whose Chairman, Bo Yibo became a firm friend.

As a privately constituted body which had led the campaign against the British government’s embargo of trade in those earliest days of the new China, the Group had no recourse to public funds, nor did this trouble them. By working directly with and for British industry they could keep their agenda sharp, pertinent and flexible to changing needs. To keep up with China’s modernisation agenda it was always important to ensure Group events were relevant to the membership. By focusing on China’s requirements and introducing specific technologies / products in a timely and effective way, British companies were ensured an excellent chance of winning business and Chinese customers were satisfied – often returning for repeat orders because trust and quality had been established. The small number of importers in the Group were just as active as the exporters and gave China a chance to earn hard currency with which to buy further British goods – a virtuous circle was created and for many years Britain led the trade with China among western countries.

This was long before China became the very popular business destination and major economic power that it is today. It took determination and hard work, but bilateral trade increased dramatically over the years so that Britain was China’s premier western trade partner up until the late 1970s. Companies joined, left and re-joined the Group, but membership always grew steadily as business took off. By the 1980’s when China’s opening-up reform programme started, Germany, the US and others began to go to China in greater numbers. New challenges faced British industry.

Without official government backing, the hostility directed at those who wanted to open trade with the new China cannot be underestimated and many personal sacrifices were made. The hard-won breakthroughs were worth it in the end; the pioneers foresaw China’s huge potential, they envisioned a world where China could take its rightful place among a community of peaceful trading nations, and predicted the benefits that would accrue to both Britain and China.

A snapshot of trade promotion highlights:

Meanwhile, discussions began on a proposed merger with the Sino-British Trade Council to combine resources and effectiveness in trade promotion with China. The China-Britain Trade Group was born in January 1991 to continue the advisory and promotional work. The 48 Group Club* was formed later that year to maintain the spirit of the original pioneers. An informal and friendly outlet for networking and social contact between people from business, cultural, diplomatic and academic circles, the Club was established for anyone with interest in and association with China trade. The Club’s motto provides a fitting continuity between the pioneers and the new generation – ‘Equality and Mutual Benefit’.

Written with a debt of gratitude to Percy Timberlake from whose history of The 48 Group the substance of this article is taken. To enquire about the book ‘The 48 Group – A History of the Icebreakers in China’ please contact us.