Haggis and dumplings to reward Scottish-Chinese business success

Business awards linking China with Scotland will be presented at this year's Chinese Burns Supper, in celebration of the growing relationship between the two countries.

The event will feature a fusion of Burns Night traditions and those of Chinese New Year, in light of the increasing importance of Chinese investment to the Scottish economy.

James Brodie, from the China-Britain Business Council, said it is natural to fuse the two events into one because the dates for both are so close.

Burns Night is celebrated in Scotland on Jan 25. It commemorates the life of the poet Robert Burns, who was born on Jan 25, 1759. Chinese New Year usually falls in late January or early February.

It will be the fifth time the China-Britain Business Council has hosted a Burns Supper, but the first time it has included the China-Scotland Business Awards. The event will be held in Glasgow on Feb 1.

There will be five award categories marking the achievements of Scotland-China businesses. They are: Chinese Investor of the Year, Business-Education Collaboration of the Year, Established Exporter of the Year, New Exporter of the Year, and China Welcome of the Year.

The first category is only for Chinese companies and the next three are more focused on Scottish companies. The China Welcome award is open to both Chinese and Scottish companies.

"There has never been an award program specifically dedicated for Scotland and China before," Brodie said."So, I think it is an obvious thing to create such an event, to celebrate the Chinese investment that has come to Scotland in recent years."

China has become a top-five source of investment into Scotland, with Chinese investment continually fl owing into the energy sector.

Last September, Chinese travel giant Ctrip announced a project to create 200 new jobs in Edinburgh following its 1.4-billion-pound acquisition of Skyscanner in 2016.

Brodie said effort has been taken to produce a program that respects both traditions.

"We've translated some of Burns' works into Chinese and we also have explanations in Mandarin about the poet," he said."We are trying to make Scottish traditions as accessible to the Chinese audience as possible."

The food will be a combination of Chinese spices with Scottish produce.

"While we serve things like cranachan (a traditional Scottish dessert), we'll do it with lychees, and the haggis will have some sort of oriental twist, coming as dumplings with Chinese spices," he said."We make sure we get a balance. That's how we can ensure that it's respectful to both cultures."

Ian Baxter, director of the Scottish Confucius Institute for Business and Communication at Heriot-Watt University, said: "We recognize that the Chinese Burns Supper provides a great opportunity to highlight that successful business relationships are built on good people-to-people relationships and respect for each other's cultures."

Baxter said he believes working between the UK and China can be challenging due to the necessity to navigate the nuances of cultural differences, but, as those relationships develop trust and friendship, the outcomes can ultimately be hugely rewarding for all.