Family fosters UK-China ties for 3 generations

Recalling his first visit to China in 1972, traveling from Beijing down to Guangdong province, Stephen said he was amazed by the country's hardworking people, and that it was as if every inch of the ground was used for agriculture, that there were millions upon millions of people working in the fields everywhere they went.

In that year, Stephen and his father facilitated a trade deal between the United States and China in the context of then US president Richard Nixon's icebreaking trip. In the same year, China and the UK established ambassadorial relations.

"I was part of the group that sold the first commodities from America to China. And being around Nixon's mission and that background made me feel a part of history," recalled Stephen Perry.

As the second generation of the icebreakers, Stephen witnessed the reform and opening-up policy being rolled out across the country since 1978, and in the following years, the 48 Group advised and helped set up a lot of joint ventures between Western and Chinese companies.

Besides commodity trade, Stephen was also involved in cultural exchanges as he worked to bring the English musical Les Miserables to Shanghai for the first time in 2002, and later introduced British composer and producer Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals, including Cats and The Phantom of the Opera, to the Chinese audiences.

Stephen has been giving talks, accepting interviews, and writing extensively about China over the past decades. In 2018, he was awarded the China Reform Friendship Medal by the Chinese government for his role as a promoter of Sino-British economic and trade exchanges. A year later, he became an honorary professor at the University of International Business and Economics.

Earlier this year, at the age of 76, Stephen retired from the 48 Group after a lifetime of doing business and trading between China and the UK.

During the 2024 Icebreakers Chinese New Year Dinner in London in February, Stephen announced his retirement in a room of prominent figures in the China-UK business community.

"Throughout the times, we have been very clear about our commitment to building China-British relations through trade and business, and it comes to the end of my reign as the chairman of the board of The 48 Group," he said. "My son, Jack, is going to take over. He has a mission in his hands. He needs to rebuild a young and vibrant 48 Group."

Just like his father, Jack Perry Jr has been immersed in the family's talks about China since childhood. "I grew up in Chinese restaurants in London and listened to my father talk with others about China," he said.

In 1992, Jack Perry Jr set foot in China for the first time during a family trip. The then 8-year-old was stunned by the Great Wall, the Beijing streets swarming with bicycles, and the curious locals flocking to have a taste of the newly opened McDonald's.

"I was just a boy watching my dad have meetings and everyone was listening to his every word. It was inspiring to see him and the difference in culture," recalled Jack. "For me, this was the beginning of a lifelong journey of learning how to see the world differently."