Elizabeth Reid receives Icebreaker Award

On 15th February 2007 Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, was presented with an award from the 48 Group Club for her pioneering steps to expand the learning of Mandarin Chinese and Chinese culture in English schools. Receiving the Icebreaker Award at the Guildhall in London, Ms Reid said:

'Receiving this award on behalf of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust is a great honour. It also recognises the excellent work our schools are doing to teach students about the Chinese culture and language and in preparing them for a future in which China will have an increasing presence both socially and economically.

'As well as ensuring our students are learning the necessary skills for the 21st century, we are committed, through our international arm iNet, to supporting networks in and across many countries and this includes China. It is through collaboration, nationally and internationally, that we will raise educational standards and ensure students are equipped with the knowledge and skills to succeed in the global world.

'I would also like to thank all those organisations and individuals who have supported the SSAT in this area. In particular, I would like to thank HSBC for their commitment to the specialist schools system and iNet.'

The 48 Group Club

The 'Icebreakers' formed the 48 Group in the depths of the cold war when Britain was fighting the Chinese in the Korean War between 1950-54. There was a trade freeze with China when America, Britain and several others placed an embargo on the sale of "strategic" goods to Soviet bloc countries. This was to last until the middle of 1957.

The 'Icebreakers' first met the Chinese in Moscow in 1952, and again in Beijing in the summer of 1953 to sign the first "Business Arrangement" between the West and the China National Import and Export Corporation (CNIEC). This quickly began to be translated into contracts, and the Chinese publicly hailed the British signatories as the 'Icebreaker Mission'.

Given the widespread western hostility to communism, the 'Icebreakers' gradually won their way from an object of derision to official recognition. The first step was the enlargement of the 1953 mission of 16 into 'The 48 Group of British Traders with China', so named because 48 British businessmen had been present at its inaugural meeting.

Over the next 43 years, this commercial group, funded by its members, grew to be the most respected name in China-Britain trade, a name well known throughout China. The Group provided support and consultancy services to British companies entering China’s markets.

In the late 1980s, encouraged by the Department of Trade and Industry, the Group began to explore a merger with the Sino-British Trade Council (SBTC). which had been operating as an Area Advisory Group to the Overseas Trade Board (OTB). In 1991, the two organizations merged to form the China-Britain Trade Group, now known as the China Britain Business Council (CBBC).

The 48 Group Club was formed at the merger, taking on the networking and social functions of the 48 Group, just as the new CBBC organisation has taken on its trade functions. There are close links between the 48 Group Club and CBBC.

More details of the Club are at www.48groupclub.org