GoodBrand

Here is a mystery: how is it possible that an economy which is now officially the second largest in the world has consumer and industrial brands with such insignificant international presence? Could it be just a developmental stage that has not yet been realised in China's rapid industrialisation and consumerisation? Could it be related to the rote learning educational methods of Chinese education in which creative expression is limited? Could it be culturally related, or, more specifically, language related?

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I have now lived in China for one year. It is a truly amazing country and I am in admiration for the achievements of the past thirty years in which 400 million people have been lifted out of poverty. The creation of a more open market in China has resulted in consistently high levels of annual economic growth (averaging around 10 per cent per annum since 2006) and a concomitant boom in consumption, especially in China’s urban populations.

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I recently attended a Sino-German trade event at the quaintly named Belgian EU Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo. A wide range of German and Chinese business leaders spoke for short slots on different aspects of CSR compliance in supply chains. Germany has strong economic ties with China and seem to have been relatively successful in supporting the development of CSR through its trading partners led by GTZ, a German government institution.

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The other week my business school, CEIBS Shanghai, hosted a two day conference on Practical Wisdom for Management from the Chinese Classical Traditions in conjunction with the European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS). We were trying to get to grips with the potential for Confucianist and Daoist wisdom to inform management practice. I presented a paper which explored the tensions between consumerist hedonic values and traditional values still passed through Chinese families and networks today.

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My friend and colleague, Pawel Nizinski, MD of GoodBrand CEE, writes powerfully and movingly of his recent trip to Shanghai on an EXPO Project. My journey to China broke the psychological barrier, it seems much closer now. Knowing the people there makes it even closer. There were some Chinese I spoke to, I still see their faces: smiles, black eyes stick to my face and carefully observing what would I say. Having talked to them really questions all my stereotypes and brings up the feeling that you need to know more, there are more questions now than before.

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"Beckham!" extolled the driver when I told him I was from the UK. Last year there was even an encased waxwork model of Beckham in Nanjing Road East in downtown Shanghai. I'm not entirely sure who most Chinese will be supporting in the World Cup - but judging by the England track suit tops and T-shirts and the fact that it is the number one selling football strip in China I think England will get strong support.

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The winners of the Social Entrepreneurship Business Competition at Friday's national final for MBA students was a team from China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) called "BiBang". Their business plan is to launch an online platform dedicated to helping people better manage their health, particularly those who require regular and chronic monitoring of their health status.

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This Friday, I shall be one of the judges for final of the national Social Entrepreneurship Business Competition. MBA students from across China have been through preliminary finals which have included training programmes on launching how they can launch their social enterprises.

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win RIBA Lubetkin Prize for best international building

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The Seed Cathedral - UK Pavilion - my EXPO winner Ever since we moved to Shanghai (August 2009) we have been surrounded by immense construction work and 'urban dressing' in preparation for EXPO. The Shanghai government have reshaped and refashioned the city in preparation for 70 million visitors (mainly Chinese). It seems that everyone has to get to EXPO. So we went last Saturday amongst 300,000 others and queued, tramped and viewed about 20 pavilions plus the Africa pavilion for most of the African states.

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