Why was this "ice-breaking journey" praised by President Xi many times?

On July 6, President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the 70th anniversary of the Sino-British trade "Ice Breaking Journey". The letter mentioned several generations of "icebreakers".

These "ice breakers" are not ice and snow athletes, but entrepreneurs who have broken the ideological ice.

In 1950, during the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there was a great deal of waste waiting to be revitalized, and Western countries imposed a trade blockade on our country. The following year, driven by an economist from the University of Cambridge, British businessman Jack Perry, who was engaged in the clothing business, decided to invest in the trade with New China.

In 1952, through their communication and promotion, British politicians and businessmen participated in the World Economic Conference held in Moscow, which led to the signing of a trade agreement between China and Britain and built a bridge for trade between the two countries.

Ji Chaoding, then Secretary General of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, visited Perry multiple times and told his father and son the story of "Yu Gong moving mountains". He also told them that there was a group of "Yu Gong" in Beijing who were not afraid of difficulties, worked tirelessly, and believed that China could revive. This story deeply moved Mr. Perry and also constructed a preliminary impression of China for Stephen Perry, who was only 5 years old at the time.

However, when Jack Perry made the decision to go to China to establish trade relations, many people around him believed that he was going crazy to trade with a newly established and devastated country.

However, Jack Perry still insisted on his decision. In 1953, at the invitation of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Jack Perry, then Chairman of the London Export Company, and 15 representatives from the British business community formed a delegation to visit China, breaking through the "ice layer" of Western countries' trade with China and opening the earliest Sino British trade dialogue. This group of knowledgeable individuals with extraordinary courage are known as the first generation of "ice breakers" in Sino British relations.

The delegation has signed a trade agreement with China National Import and Export Corporation, totaling £ 30 million. According to the agreement, China exports agricultural and sideline products such as tea, rapeseed oil, and silk to the UK, while the UK exports non strategic materials such as wool, metals, and chemicals to China. The trade agreement cleverly weakens the description of commodity names in the gray area of pipe products, which is actually a huge breakthrough in the Western trade blockade.

The following year, under the organization of Jack Perry, 48 British business people visited China, which was also the predecessor of the "48 Anglo China Trade Groups". Since then, the London export company under the Perry family has started conducting economic and trade exchanges with China through Hong Kong.

In 1991, the "UK China Trade 48 Group" was renamed as the "UK 48 Group Club".

Two years later, Stephen Perry, who had listened to the story of "Foolish Old Man Moving Mountains", took over as the club president from his father, and the spirit of "ice breaker" and the promotion of Sino British economic and trade exchanges were passed down from generation to generation.

With China's reform and opening up, the relationship between Perry and his son and China has become closer. They have witnessed the rapid development of the Chinese economy, the ever-changing social landscape, and the deepening bond with China.

On October 16, 2018, President Xi Jinping met with Stephen Perry at the Great Hall of the People. President Xi stressed that the Chinese people will never forget the older generation of friendly people who made historic contributions to the development of Sino British economic and trade exchanges in those difficult years. He is glad to see that the spirit of "ice breaking journey" is being passed on from generation to generation. The new generation of "icebreakers" represented by 48 group clubs continue to devote themselves to the cause of Sino British friendship with full enthusiasm.

On December 18 of the same year, at the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening up, Stephen Perry was awarded the China Reform Friendship Medal as a inheritor of the British China friendship and a promoter of economic, trade, and cultural exchanges between the UK and China.

In the past 20 years, Stephen Perry cannot remember how many times he has visited China, but it can be confirmed that it is precisely because of the successive efforts of several generations of "ice breakers" that the trade between China and the UK has grown from scratch, reaching a scale of over 100 billion US dollars today.

Currently, economic globalization is facing a backlash, and the world is entering a new period of turbulence and transformation. There is a need for more Perry and his son between China and the UK, to inherit the visionary, open cooperation, and pioneering spirit of breaking the ice, and to become a bridge and link to enhance mutual communication, cooperation, and understanding.