CRI听力:Michael Jones-Building Bridges to Africa

Our series on expats in China continues... During his 12 years in Beijing, South African Michael Jones started a successful public relations company. Can China be his permanent home? Daniel Holmes reports.

"So, I'm South African. I've been living in Beijing for 12 years, almost 13 years now."

Over a decade ago, Michael Jones arrived in Beijing with short-term plans to stay in the country. 12 years on, and with a succesful business of his own, his original plan couldn't be further from the reality.

"Well, I arrived in China in 2001 as a student on scholarship, thanks to the Chinese government. They gave me a sholarship to come out here. I thought I was going to become fluent in Chinese, and return to South Africa in one year. That didn't happen."

But what did happen was a series of events that would lead Michael Jones to set up his own public relations company. After falling into a job with one of the world's top PR agencies, Weber Shandwick, Michael Jones garnered the experiences, grasping more and more Chinese on the way.

12 years later, Michael has started his own PR company, that focuses on promoting African brands and Africa's image here in China.

"So we've got an office here called Africa Create. Africa Create does branding work for a kind of promotion work for African lifestyles and toursim brands. Effectively we can help African brands get promoted properly here in China."

The ins-and-outs of running a business in Beijing by no means lives up to the glitzy reputation that PR often has, although this week is an exception – as one of South Africa's most famous sportsmen will be visiting China.

"I'm sure you've heard of Gary Player. Obviously the most famous South African golfer of all time. And the great news is that Gary Player is going to be in Beijing next week and we've arranged an interview with him."

Gary Player's visit is a big event for Africa Create, as the retired sportsman has come to promote his design of golf courses in China. Michael's PR agency has arranged a series of interviews with some top lifestyle magazines. But a surprising amount of work goes into the organisation of an event like this, and it's not always exciting.

"PR always looks very glamorous, by these kind of events, hanging out with celebrities and stuff like that. But there's normally a good month of preparation, of sitting behind a keyboard, knocking out PPTs and Excel spreadsheets. There's a lot of hard work in the background."

For Michael though, the cost of living in China isn't just in the long hours and hard work that comes with running a business. His yearly visa applications mean he can never plan too far into the future. And he feels that this unguaranteed status as a Beijing resident doesn't just affect him.

For CRI, I'm Daniel Holmes.