Great expat-ations: Australian Nicholas in Beijing

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-17 10:52

Why choose China?

I was lured here by the challenge of working in the world's fastest growing, most dynamic market. The other part of lure was that my wife is Chinese and we wanted to give our children the opportunity to learn Chinese. That has been successful with the eldest finishing her A-levels with an A in Mandarin.

Doing what?

I initially came here to run Edelman's Beijing office. Edelman is a top five international public relations company. After my three years with Edelman I established my own firm - AC Capital Strategic Consulting. We specialize in corporate communications and public affairs advisory and training services. We primarily service foreign companies in the Global Fortune 500 list; but more recently have been working for Chinese SOE's and private companies. We do some work for Chinese government agencies and for foreign embassies in Beijing.

The language?

I'm largely monolingual, though I can read Latin based languages based on a good grounding in Latin at school. I speak enough Chinese to get by with daily stuff - but not enough to be effective in business without the support of my excellent team.

Food?

I eat everything. Particularly love Sichuan food.

Money?

I'm happy in China. I think my income is on a par with what it would be back home. But I'm not here for the money. It is not a factor. I'm here for the challenge and the very interesting type of work I get to do here. Back home the work would be much more mundane. Here everyday is different.

Relationship?

I have been married for 20 years to a Chinese woman. We met in Sydney, Australia in 1987. We have three daughters aged 12 to 18 (the oldest has returned to Australia for university). My wife is a great wife and mother. At the very minimum she has suffered me for 20 years. And she often (very often) helps to explain or demystify China for me.

How do you see your future in China or elsewhere?

I'm busy building a business and don't imagine being anywhere else right now. I'm here for at least another 10 years. At that time I will consider a business exit strategy. But a business exit strategy doesn't necessarily include a China exit strategy. The latter will depend on a number of other factors - some of which are unpredictable.