What we heard was frank, detailed, and often sobering. The businesses taking part are not dealing with a temporary disruption. They are navigating a fundamental shift in how global trade works, driven by overlapping geopolitical pressures, unpredictable policy, and the challenge of building resilience when margins are tight and planning horizons have shortened from years to weeks.

On 10 March 2026, the programme continued with a dedicated Net Zero Conference in Guangzhou, where 25 delegates explored how supply chain decarbonisation connects with resilience. The findings from that event are woven throughout this report.

Throughout the programme, we were joined by senior experts from the UK including representatives from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), whose participation shaped the questions we asked and the conclusions we drew. Their engagement ensured that the findings in this report reflect not only the operational realities on the ground in South China, but the policy questions that matter most to UK government and business back home.

One broader framing emerged consistently across the discussions: that the word “chain” no longer captures the reality of how global trade works. What businesses are actually managing is a supply web – a dense, multi-directional network of interdependencies where a disruption at any node ripples outward in ways that are rarely obvious until the effect lands somewhere unexpected. That shift in mental model has practical implications for how resilience is built and how policy should respond.

Participants included senior representatives from Autoliv, KPMG, Royale International, CIPS, Knight Frank, CEIBS, Sound United,  Charles Kendall Freight, Woodland Logistics, Smiths Group, VOION, Lakeshore, Cathay Pacific, BSI, China 2 West (C2W), Kinyu, and Nespresso/Re:cycle, among others. Their willingness to share real operational detail, not just headline positions, is what gives this report its weight.

The report draws on qualitative evidence from three roundtables, facility visits to Yantian port, MagLab, and the Dongguan Innovation Research Institution, a parallel survey of 50 firms with direct exposure to China-linked supply chains, and the Net Zero Conference proceedings. The findings are intended to inform UK government policy and to give a voice to the businesses doing the hard work of keeping trade moving.

We are grateful to the FCDO, DBT, the British Chambers of Commerce in the UK, BritCham Shanghai, and every participant who gave their time and candour.