“It's very hard to do good business with people in different territories if you don’t know what makes them tick,” says Marah Winn-Moon, the global head of cultural sponsorship for HSBC.

It is this view, coupled with the increasing prominence of China on the global platform, that is leading UK companies to employ Chinese graduates.

Deloitte UK launched an internal recruitment campaign in China in 2007, creaming off the 20 best graduates from the 1,000 graduates recruited by Deloitte China.

The selection process involved language testing, a review of CVs, plus interviews by partners in the UK. After a cultural induction in their first week, each of the successful 20 was assigned a buddy to help them to learn the ropes. They will spend four years in London and become qualified as UK chartered accountants.

Sarah Shillingford, the graduate recruitment partner at Deloitte, says that companies on both continents benefit. “We can serve our clients better by having a greater level of insight into countries that are of real interest to them. China is becoming a large part of many companies’ business models now.” The reverse will apply when the Chinese recruits return home.

Luo Xuan, who has a law degree from Shenzhen University, is an associate in tax for Deloitte in London. She says that London is “a place you can be yourself”. But she finds accommodation expensive and was surprised by the traffic. “I used to think the UK is a very organised country. When I came here I found the big city has this traffic problem.”

At work, people dress more casually than in China and must take more responsibility for themselves. There is no direct line manager, so it is up to the associates to ask the managers for work. “I feel a little bit shy to ask others for a job. It makes me feel a little bit strange,” Luo says. “In China, the managers organise everything and you just need to fit yourself into the whole programme.”

But she prefers the UK system. “It’s not like the parents or managers, the older people, telling you what you are going to be. You make your own choice and take your own responsibility, so you have no excuse.” Her buddy Andrew Gray, an assistant manager in corporate tax, helped her to find accommodation in London and says that the Chinese graduates are a close-knit group. “We’re very close to Chinatown, so I think Xuan and her friends go there quite a lot,” he says.

HSBC is taking part in a work-experience programme organised by the UK and Chinese governments. Lor-raine Thomas, an executive at HSBC Global Education Trust, says: “It promotes cultural understanding, not only for the Chinese students living, studying and working in the UK, but also for the colleagues that they work with in HSBC.”

Cherry Sun came to the UK in July 2005 after receiving her masters degree from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She spent 18 months as a commercial manager for HSBC in London and enjoyed the way people in the UK value diversity.

Sun is now a senior credit analyst for HSBC Korea. She says: “I have brought with me lots of learning from the UK, including approaching different views with an open mind and solving conflicts in an assertive and diplomatic way.”

The scheme is part of HSBC’s cultural exchange programme, which is focused on understanding different cultures to develop successful business relations.

“There is a huge thirst from individuals and the business community to understand how to do business with China,” Winn-Moon says. “It’s this meeting of two cultures that is so interesting, that we’re really exploring through the programme.”

Explore Career

• Graduate

• Senior Executive

• Recruiter Forum

• Top 50 Women

• Best 100 Companies

• Careers in

Times Recommends

• Inspirational leadership
• How to get a new job
• The reluctant CEO