UK's interest in China boosted by BBC TV series

A screenshot from the trailer of BBC's new TV series The Story of China.

"There's no point in us giving the history of China from the perspective of the West."

Wood, who made 12 trips to China for the series, is also a member of history's teaching staff within the Faculty of Humanities at The University of Manchester – one of President Xi Jinping's stops on his state visit to the UK last October.

"Manchester University has rich Chinese connections - as we all saw when President Xi came up here in the autumn on his unprecedented visit - and I have been so grateful for the university's support during the two years or so of making this series," Wood says.

In episodes four and five, Wood is joined by his colleague from Manchester, Professor Yangwen Zheng, as they trace the birth of modern China from the 1700's.

Zheng, an expert in Chinese history, is one of many academics from various universities interviewed throughout the series.

The Story of China has been produced in cooperation between BBC Two and PBS in the US.

There are no plans for it to be aired in China yet, although it can be accessed online.

"There are things in it that most Chinese people will probably not have seen," Wood says.

"We'd love to see it in China."

Samantha Vada is a freelance writer. She contributed this to China Daily