Hendrik Schulte Nordholt is a sinologist. He started working in 1981 as a government official promoting economic relations between the Netherlands and China. In 1985 Schulte Nordholt set up the first Dutch bank (AMRO) in China, but in 1992 he decided to ‘jump into the sea’ and with two partners established the technology company Hofung. Schulte Nord.holt has lived in China for twenty years, and frequently speaks and publishes on China.