As someone who has worked passionately at the forefront of UK-China international business, trade and investment for the last 25-plus years, I have been deeply upset by the seemingly overnight deterioration in UK-China relations following the UK’s decision to ban Huawei’s 5G equipment.

在过去的25多年里，我一直积极活跃在英中国际商务、贸易和投资领域前沿。在英国决定禁止华为5G设备后，英中关系似乎一夜之间出现转折，我对此深感不安。

Five years ago, we were all talking excitedly about ‘a new golden era of UK-China relations’. In 2015, the UK became the first Western country to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and President Xi Jinping had enjoyed a memorable state visit to the UK, paving the way for UK-China relations to flourish. He talked about a “bilateral relationship” with a “community of shared interests” which would be lifted to a “new height”. And indeed, it did, with the UK becoming one of China’s largest trade partners in 2019.

五年前，大家都在兴奋地谈论着“英中关系的新黄金时代”。2015年，英国成为第一个加入亚洲基础设施投资银行的西方国家，习近平主席对英国进行了令人难忘的国事访问，也为英中关系的蓬勃发展铺平了道路。习近平主席谈到了英中利益共同体，这种双边关系也被提升到新高度。事实上也的确如此，到2019年英国已成为中国最大的贸易伙伴之一。

Post-Brexit, there would be inevitable tensions around the UK’s trading relationship with Europe. Now the UK seems to be heading for additional tensions with a second major trading arm, China. But I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to burn bridges. And it really would be a terrible shame if both countries let political differences and challenges interfere with our otherwise growing friendship and trade interests.

而进入“后脱欧”时代，英国与欧洲的贸易关系将不可避免地出现紧张局势。如今，英国似乎又要形成与全球第二大贸易体中国的紧张局势。对此，我认为这种“拆桥”绝非智举。如果说因为政治分歧和挑战而让原本不断发展的英中友谊和贸易利益受到干扰和破坏，这实在令人惋惜和遗憾。

Whilst the Huawei ban has clearly been a difficult decision, it does reiterate one thing that we, at Crayfish.io, have always known as it forms the very backbone of our business – and it’s this: Doing business with China can be challenging and unsuccessful if you do not properly understand the complexities, legalities and, most importantly, the unique culture of doing business with China. I know this because this is one of the most important aspects that we help UK businesses with to scale up and become successful operations in China.

China is regarded as strategically important to many UK businesses including SMEs. It is now the third largest importer of UK goods ($30bn), and the UK is the second largest recipient of Chinese FDI in Europe. The fundamentals of the UK-China relationship are still sound, in trade, investment, education, and cultural links – and so there is no reason why any of these dynamics should change.

对包括中小企业在内的许多英国企业而言，中国是具有战略意义的重要市场。目前中国已成为英国商品（300亿美金）的第三大进口国，同时英国也是中国在欧洲第二大投资接受国。因此，在贸易、投资、教育和文化联系等各个方面，英中关系的基础依然稳固。

Maintaining a long-term relationship – whether it’s between countries, governments, organisations or individuals – must always be based on trust requiring both parties to work at it and together, overcoming differences, and looking out for common ground and similarities, and sharing experiences.

无论是国家、政府、组织以及个人之间，要保持一种长期关系，都必须遵循互信原则，要求双方共同努力、相互合作，克服分歧，求同存异。

This is why Crayfish.io exists – our online platform serves as a digital bridge to fill the gaps of knowledge by providing multilingual and multi-cultural expertise to facilitate genuinely mutual, win-win collaborations and partnership between the Western world and China.

这也是Crayfish.io存在的原因，我们的在线平台架起了一座数字桥梁，通过提供多语言和多元文化的专业服务来弥补认知和沟通的隔阂，从而促进西方世界和中国真正形成双赢、互惠互利的合作伙伴关系。

This is a time for solidarity and collaboration – not burning bridges.

当下，我们应该团结一致，共克时艰，而非拆断共建的桥梁。