"I had never travelled outside America before I came to China," he said. "The only other country I'd ever been to was Canada - which isn't much of a foreign country for an American. So when I first stepped off the plane in Hong Kong, with all the lights and the sounds and the smells, it was amazing. I was intoxicated."

At that time he was a young engineering graduate on his way to Xi'an to work for the Boeing company. Although he was there for only two years, the experience made a huge impression on him. So when the opportunity arose to come back to China two years ago, he was more than happy to do so.

He is now managing director of China operations for Underwriters Laboratories Inc, a product safety certification firm that has representative offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The major role of the Chinese sector of the company lies in enabling Chinese manufacturers to access overseas markets by providing internationally recognized safety certification for their products.

"Our whole reason for being is to ensure that the products used by the consumer are safe," said Johnson. "Our mission is to facilitate the export of Chinese-made products overseas. The world has many different safety standards, but if you want to access country A's markets, then you have to meet country A's safety standards."

He is enjoying the experience of working in China again, and is a great admirer of the Chinese approach to business.

"It's fun working with people who are open-minded and always looking for better ways of doing things," he said. "The people here are eager to learn and develop themselves. They don't necessarily want to adopt Western ways, but they will take the bits that work for them and build them into their own style of life."

Johnson sees this as a two-way process, where foreigners and Chinese are constantly learning from each other, and believes this will develop further as China opens up to the rest of the world. He feels this process is particularly noticeable in Shanghai.

"Shanghai has become a lot more cosmopolitan," he said. "There are many more expats living here, and I think the city is comfortable with that. The city embraces the foreigners who live here. It's a symbiotic relationship - the foreigners get ideas from the local Shanghai residents and vice versa."

Johnson admits that this level of mutual understanding may be some way off back in his home country. He says he was amazed to discover that only 20 per cent of Americans have a passport.

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