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Business ethics across cultures and China’s transformation: Chris Ruffle in conversation on his latest novel
Chris Ruffle is a British author and businessman who has spent over 30 years working in Asia. He studied Chinese at Oxford University and Japanese at Sheffield University before beginning his career in international trade. After initially working in Newcastle, he moved to China in 1983 with a metal trading company. His professional career later took him to Tokyo, Taipei, Edinburgh, and Hong Kong, where he worked in finance. Ruffle also established a vineyard in Shandong, China, which he chronicled in his memoir A Decent Bottle of Wine in China (2015). In addition to his business ventures, he authored the play Before the Wall, performed at the National Museum of Scotland in 2019. Ruffle’s latest novel, The Barter Trade, published books by Earnshaw books, is set in Beijing in 1983 and combines elements of romance and thriller, exploring the complexities of personal relationships and political tensions during China’s post-Cultural Revolution re-opening to the West.
What inspired you to choose the topic of cross cultural business dealings in China for this novel?
I have effectively spent my whole career – over 40 years now – interpreting, often literally, between China and the West. The misunderstandings that arise was the theme of my play “Before the Wall” (see attached) performed at the National Museum of Scotland.
How did your own experiences in China influence the creation of this story?
The origin of the book was the discovery, when clearing my parents’ house, of all the letters I had written from China in the 1980’s, carefully filed by my mother. Reading through the letters, and seeing how far we have come in just 40 years, I thought it worthwhile recording. I think this is particularly important at the moment when the West’s narrative about China is so negative.
The protagonist, Ben, seems to be navigating a very different cultural and business landscape. What were the main challenges you wanted to highlight through his journey?
Like Ben, I had studied the Chinese language, history and culture for 4 years before arriving in Beijing. I had also worked for a couple of years in the North of England selling soap for P&G when I could not initially find any work to use my Chinese. But arriving in Beijing in January 1983 was still quite a shock, and I try to capture that feeling. In 1983 the number of foreigners in China was still low (when I moved to Shanghai the following year the consul told me I was one of only 32 British living there!) It was still a command economy, so all trade went through state import/export corporations. Communications were difficult, so a lot of time was spent yelling into phones or kicking heels in dusty waiting rooms.
How did you approach the task of researching historical and cultural aspects of 1980s China for the novel?
I was there, so it was mostly from memory. Before publishing, I had “fellow travellers” check my manuscript for mistakes.
China’s political history plays a backdrop in the novel, especially the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution. How do you see this history affecting the personal destinies of the characters?
At this time, there was a kind of societywide PTSD in the wake of the Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward. Travelling around China, I came across many who had been “assigned” to distant parts and had not been able to make it back. Plenty of families were still split up. It made for a great caution. No one wanted to fall foul of the authorities.
In what ways do you think the social dynamics of 1980s China, particularly in terms of gender roles, influenced your depiction of Miss Peng’s character?
The Maoist slogan of women holding up half the sky has often been misused or overstated. But in business at this time I did come across plenty of powerful women in important positions (far more than in my subsequent time in Japan). The onechild policy was launched in the late ‘70’s and this was already changing parental attitudes to son v. daughter.
Miss Peng’s caution about her involvement with Ben highlights the political dangers of associating with foreigners. How did you approach the theme of surveillance and suspicion in 1980s China, especially in the context of foreign interactions?
Most Chinese at this time regarded having anything to do with a foreigner outside work as an unnecessary risk. So, looking back, my local friends were either the sons and daughters of highranking cadres, or people who were already in so much trouble it did not really matter. Surveillance was less sophisticated than now – the clicks on a recorded phone call, all visitors having to register at the gate when visiting my hotel, my staff reporting on me at meetings every Saturday afternoon.
How do you think China’s rapid modernization has changed since the time depicted in the novel?
I don’t think anyone in 1983 Beijing could have predicted 2024 Beijing. The scale of the change economically has been extraordinary. I have had a front row seat for perhaps one of the biggest ever changes in a society in peacetime. However, if I had presented the economic scenario back in 1983, I don’t think anyone would have expected politics to be so unchanged.
The Old Summer Palace, with its ruins and desolation, serves as a metaphor for China’s turbulent past. How do the characters’ reflections on this historical site tie into the broader themes of memory and identity?
I have visited the Summer palace many times over the years, ever since I first lived at the Friendship Hotel, also in Beijing’s Northwest corner. It seems the ultimate symbol of misunderstanding between China and the West. What survives in ruins is just a small and uncharacteristic part of the whole – a pastiche of Western architecture that survives as it was built in stone, compared to the much vaster Chinese edifices built in wood. In the attached play I address the specific question of how the armies of the supposedly “civilized” powers of Britain and France came to burn, Talibanlike, one of the wonders of the world.
The novel explores business ethics, particularly through the contrast of Western and Chinese business practices. What was your aim in drawing these differences?
This is an area I have struggled with throughout my time in China. In the 1980’s, the problem was relatively small scale. The banquets, which were a fundamental part of doing business, featured exotic and expensive food and drink, this being an opportunity for the officials, and their clients, to dine at the state’s expense. The sending of “factfinding” delegations abroad were often a transparent “jolly” allowing officials to see the world and bring back items which were difficult to obtain at home. In some ways corruption became a bigger issue in the ‘90’s/’00’s as, following the CCP’s abolition of traditional, religion based ethical frameworks, the CCP’s own “serving the people” ethics became mere lip service. As the novel indicates, it is not that the Chinese side had the monopoly on corruption issues…There were big prizes at stake.
Are there any upcoming writing projects or novels you are currently working on that also explore themes of cross cultural experiences?
I am writing a collection of short stories I have called “Tall Stories” which deal with this theme.
Photo courtesy of Chris Ruffle
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