article_snippet: Coventry's links with China go back a long way after Coventry's links with China had the foresight in the early Eighties to twin Coventry's links with China with the Chinese city of Jinan in Shandong province.
article_snippet: What the two cities had in common was silk
article_snippet: : Jinan is at the end of the Silk Road and Coventry — before the rise of the motor industry — was a centre for the finest silk-working.
article_snippet: The Chinese think long-term and have an important concept called guanxi — or social connections — which help smooth business.
article_snippet: Coventry was early to establish these vital connections.