Curriculum Vitae

Male, British passport holder, born 1942, native language English.

General

Since graduating in Chinese in 1977 I have spent about twelve years living in the People's Republic of China, of which one was in Shenyang, three and a half in Shanghai, four and a half based in Beijing and the balance consisting of a number of business trips ranging from one week to almost a year in length. When not in China I have been continuously engaged in work related to China.

My duties while employed by Shell China (see below) included translation and interpreting for the local managing director and for staff visiting from outside China, at meetings with Chinese officials at all levels up to Chinese State Councillor and Royal Dutch/Shell Group Managing Director, and covering technical and commercial matters. I also drafted quarterly summaries of political and legal trends in the PRC for inclusion in the local managing director's reports to Shell Centre, and a report on the business environment in the Yangtze Basin.

I have spent three and a half years in Chinese tertiary education, where all classes were taught in Chinese. The courses were in one year of Chinese language (including basic Classical Chinese) in Shenyang, and two and a half years of traditional Chinese classical instrumental music when I lived in Shanghai.

Employment

1964 - 1973: Solicitor's articled clerk; conveyancer; assistant to the company secretary of Provident Finance;
1979 - 1981: Translator and interpreter for the Dowty Group PLC;
1981 - 1986 (June): Freelance translator and interpreter for clients including major agencies and a number of FTSE 100 and equivalent foreign companies;
1986 (June) - end 1991: Public Affairs Manager and later Office Administration Manager in Shell China Ltd's Beijing and Shanghai offices;
1994 (September) - date: Freelance translator and interpreter;
1995 - 2000: Contract translation consultant to Shell Nanhai Ltd. for the US $4 billion Nanhai Petrochemicals Complex joint venture contract;
1999 - 2001: External Examiner, MA and Diploma in Translating and Interpreting at Bath University;
2001 - November 2002: Translator with the Shell China "West to East Pipeline" project team;
2005 - 2008: External Examiner, MA and Diploma in Translating and Interpreting at Bath University.

Education

1954 - 1960: Bradford Grammar School ("A" level English, French and German, 1960);
1960 - 1963: University of Leeds (LL.B., 1963);
1963 (August) - 1964 (February): College of Law, Ltd, London (legal practice courses)
1973 - 1977: University of Leeds (B.A. (Chinese and Linguistics-Phonetics), 1977);
1977 (August) - 1978 (August): British Council Scholarship to study Chinese at the Beijing Languages Institute and Liaoning University, Shenyang, Liaoning, PRC (Certificate of Further Studies in Chinese Language, 1978);
1992 (February) - 1994 (July): Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Shanghai, PRC (Certificate of Further Studies in the Chinese Seven-stringed Zither (Guqin), 1994).

Background

I started to teach myself Chinese in the late 60s and made a certain amount of progress using John de Francis' excellent text-books. In 1973 I registered as a student at the University of Leeds, graduating in 1977, and winning a British Council Exchange Scholarship to study in Beijing and Shenyang for the year August 1977 - August 1978.

On my return I did a number of small assignments for the Sino-British Trade Council before joining the Dowty Group, an aerospace and mining equipment company, where I stayed for almost three years. In 1982, when their flow of contracts with China dried up, I left to freelance, working mainly in the legal, mechanical engineering and mining sectors.

In June 1986 I joined Shell China Limited, the China arm of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies on a 2-year contract. I was in Beijing until the end of 1990, when I transferred to Shanghai, finally leaving Shell at the end of 1991. Since returning to the UK in September 1994 I have worked again as a freelance for a number of British and international agencies, whilst maintaining links with the Shell Companies in China until the end of 2002.

Interests

My main outside interests are playing the guqin seven-string zither and studying with the Open University with the long-term aim or earning a degree in molecular science. I played judo whilst studying for my law degree and was a TAVR member of the Parachute Regiment from 1969 to 1978.