British entrepreneur and former dotcom billionaire Andrew Rickman (pictured) likes to do business with mainland governments.
Hailed at the age of 40 in 2000 as the internet's first billionaire, Rickman's wealth evaporated when shares in his company, optical components' maker Bookham Technology, offered at GBP10 in 2000, rose to GBP48 before collapsing to just 74 pence a year later following the bursting of the dotcom bubble. That implosion took the market capitalisation of Bookham from more than GBP6 billion to GBP130 million in a year.
But having made and lost a fortune founding what was once the second-largest fibre optics telecommunications component producer in the world, Rickman plainly has an appetite for risk.
There is no question that partnerships with local authorities on the mainland can be murky and for many foreign firms investing alongside government officials or with anyone who is politically affiliated, it is high-risk terrain. Corporate governance is poor, and in a country in which corruption is extensive and the judicial system weak, overseas investors might not be protected in cases of legal disputes over ownership.
But Rickman and his brother Robert have not been deterred and have raised US$200 million with contributions from the Shandong and Shanxi governments to invest in specialist technology firms in the provinces.
It is not the first time the British businessman, who was one of Prime Minister David Cameron's delegates when he visited China for the first time last month, has talked money with mainland government officials.