Living with Dragons: A Memoir of the Middle Kingdom

Giles Chance, MA 1974

I wrote "Living with Dragons" as a memoir of the two decades that I spent in my middle years working in business in, and with China. My original interest in China was sparked by my honeymoon in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Wuxi in April-May 1988 with my Chinese wife Ying. I realised then that the Chinese, while still desperately poor and recovering from the Mao era and the Cultural Revolution, were beginning to realise that they had huge opportunities to become rich and to develop their lives, which had been created by Deng Xiaopeng's economic liberalisation.

With Ying, I started a business in 1989 based in London, Beijing and Shanghai which assisted Western multinational companies to enter and understand China, and at the same time, enabled Chinese state-owned companies to locate and source Western technology and equipment, mainly from Europe. In 1995, we sold this company to focus on our young family. In 2003, we started a small investment bank in London and Shanghai which enabled privately-owned Chinese companies to raise capital by listing their shares on the London stock market.

At the beginning of my story, in 1988, the Chinese had no money, Chinese companies and property were all state-owned, there were no cars in China, only bicycles by the million, and everyone in China wore blue Mao-style uniforms. By the end, China was playing a large role in the global economy, Chanel, Burberry and Hermes had become "de rigueur" for many of its people who were already wealthy, and China was beginning to become a global superpower.

As one reviewer of the book has written: "Having visited China as a tourist about 15 years ago and formed an affection for it and admiration for its social policies, my reaction to much of the criticism of China has been one of scepticism concerning whether the reports are truly reflective of the whole picture. For what I saw in China led me to conclude that in spite of what was undoubtedly the negative there was much that was positive which Western politicians and journalists tended to overlook. What has been missing - for me - is a balanced resume of what makes modern China tick and a better understanding of the national character. In many respects I have found what I have been looking for in this book, for whilst the author, who clearly knows his subjects exceptionally well, does not pull his punches where criticism is justified, he has, through a well rounded, meticulously researched and moderate approach to his subject matter produced a text which provides many of the answers I have been looking for. It has the added advantage of providing a good understanding of how business is done in and with China, particularly in the business and financial sectors."

ISBN: 9781837941858