Family fosters UK-China ties for 3 generations

Jack Perry Jr and Stephen Perry watch Jack Perry Sr appearing in a video archive about the 48 Group during the 2024 Icebreakers Chinese New Year Dinner in London in February. For Jack Perry Jr, the relationship between him and China was rooted in stories, distant travels, the influence of his father and grandfather, and an unwavering spirit of icebreaking passed on for three generations. The Perry family's China story dates back to the early 1950s, when Jack's grandfather, Jack Perry Sr, despite the huge amount of pressure at the time, made the first trade with the newly founded People's Republic of China. John Boyd Orr, a British politician who was then serving as the first director-general of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, led the Icebreaker group, while Jack Perry Sr was the group's organizer.