I recently retired as UK senior partner of BDO after 23 years as a partner with the firm. Last year, I took up a position as visiting professor at Xiamen University, China. My wife is Chinese and I decided to spend three months exploring business opportunities in the region and trying to learn some Mandarin.

I’m blogging about my experiences in China for Real Business – catch up on my journey so far.

China invested as much directly into European assets in the first half of the year (US$3.3bn) as in the whole of 2010. 

Economic consultancy Rhodium Group estimates that China could invest as much as US$1,000bn overseas by 2020 (level at June was US$330bn). 

“China’s investment interest is moving from natural resources toward economy assets such as brands, technology and distribution channels so places like Europe will receive a greater portion of that $1,000bn”, according to Rhodium’s research director. 

This chimes with my experience talking to Chinese business leaders, academics and officials. Expect a steady flow of M&A from China, unless Western protectionism rears its head.