On Saturday 15 May 1965, Joseph Needham addressed a packed assembly hall at Church House Westminster in central London to announce “an organization to promote friendship and mutual understanding between the British and the Chinese”.
The renowned Cambridge University biochemist and science historian talked about his friendship with visiting Chinese scientists, his study of the Chinese language, and his scientific and technological liaison mission during World War II in Chongqing, the country’s wartime capital.
“One must always remember that China is not only a different country from our own … but a different civilization,” he told the audience, which included bishops, members of parliament, professors, artists, writers and trade union leaders.
“There is thus a much greater gulf of fundamental assumptions to be crossed, as well as all the fascinating differences that arise in philosophy, art, landscape, religion, manners, and so on. This requires a real effort to understand what our new society is all about,” he said.
It was named the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding, or SACU, and in the following decades played an important role in people-to-people exchange between China and the United Kingdom.
Fast forward to a Saturday at the end of September. Around 200 people gather at King’s College London to celebrate SACU’s 60th anniversary.
Almost all of SACU’s core activities took shape during its first years, including public conferences, film screenings, discussion meetings, Chinese language classes, and above all, its tours to China.
In the 1970s, these tours offered ordinary Britons one of the few ways to see the country with their own eyes.
Frances Wood – Sinologist, historian and former Chief Curator of Chinese Collections at the British Library – joined SACU’s first youth tour to China in 1971.
“What I liked most was seeing China and meeting the people,” he recalls. “I would wander into the villages where we stayed, walk around and talk to people.”
That early curiosity never left him. Wood published extensively on Chinese history from Marco Polo and the Silk Road to China’s first emperor, always striving to illuminate the bigger picture through individual stories.
From the 1980s onwards, China’s opening attracted wider public interest, and SACU – through its links with the Chinese People’s Friendship Organization Abroad – was able to expand its reach. By 1985, the club said more than 10,000 people had been members at any one time.
Along with tours and public events, SACU also built a publishing business. In May 1970, it published a monthly magazine, China Now, which aimed to provide Western readers with a more in-depth discussion of China’s development. The magazine was renamed China in Focus in 1996, and since 2004 it has been published as China Eye.
The contents of the papers were mainly written by SACU members, and the stories ranged from the latest news about China, announcements of upcoming lectures, book reviews, and first-hand reports on China written by members returning from the latest SACU tour.
As China opened up more in the 1990s, the society faced increasing competition. With its unique history, distinguished members and high-level connections, SACU still has the ability to “punch above its weight”, many attendees at the 60th anniversary event said.
Education was one of the areas Zoe Reed tried to steer SACU into. Reed, who has been president of SACU since 2009, outlined the organization’s next five-year plan.
One of SACU’s flagship projects is a joint essay competition with Peking University, which encourages UK high school students to explore topics such as bridging cultural differences between China and the West, taking a historical perspective on Sino-British relations.
Sun Hua, director of Peking University’s China Center for Edgar Snow Studies, was a partner in the project. He said the number of participating schools had expanded since the competition was launched at Needham’s alma mater, Oundle School, Peterborough, in 2015.
“I am very happy to be here to continue Joseph Needham’s great work of promoting harmony and understanding between the Chinese and British people,” said Sun, who flew to London to present the awards to the student winners on SACU’s anniversary.
To promote Needham’s spirit, SACU continues to broaden the conversation about China in the UK by engaging with academics, artists and public intellectuals. Among those lending their voices is historian and broadcaster Michael Wood, who has been president of SACU since 2020.
Speaking at the anniversary, Wood said: “It is my hope that SACU will find partners through all other aspects of modern media, increase its reach and expand knowledge of China, while still remembering the central goal that was spoken on this platform in 1965.
“Friendship and understanding – that is the greatest need in such a dangerous and unstable world.”