'ICEBREAKER' WHO WARMED SINO-BRITISH TRADING LINKS

Stephen Perry, chairman of the 48 Group Club, has been a regular visitor to the Canton Fair since the 1970s

Editor's note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of China's reform and opening-up policy. China Daily profiles people who experienced or witnessed the important drive.

In 1954, during the Cold War, a group of 48 British businessmen took seven days to travel to Hong Kong amid efforts by the United States to stop people from visiting China. The team then took another four days to get to Beijing, with the help of an emissary of premier Zhou Enlai.