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.
Blog 76
Blog 77
It is sometimes said that China is a country where the “rule of law” is not respected, but that the elite “rule by law”. Foreign firms have long complained that their intellectual property rights are not respected here. Litigating in China is a greater lottery even than in UK – and even winning judgement will not guarantee that damages can be collected. However, now that Chinese businesses are investing more in R&D and becoming more sophisticated in business, complaints about the legal system are being made locally too. Commercial law is a young profession in China; it is developing – and the pace of change needs to be fast.Blog 78
Yu Han’s grandfather is one of the most famous Philosophy Professors in China; her father is a leading Accounting Professor. She is eight years old and speaks excellent “Oxford English” (having just spent a year there while her father was at the university). She loved England and made lots of friends. She has just returned to Chinese school, which she attends from 8am to 5pm – and she then has homework which can take three hours. She is a bright, lively girl and would thrive in either environment. She says she prefers English school because she had time to play, with little or no homework.Share this story