A recent press trip to Shanghai showed me that our friends prefer European Britain to Global Britain

There was an unexpected cost to Sean O’Grady’s Chinese freebie this week – a huge slice of Brexit-flavoured mockery

One of the many joys of being a journalist is that you sometimes get invited on important business trips abroad, or “freebies” as we like to call them. I’ve been on quite a few, from assignments for the travel desk to IMF international annual meetings to Davos to prestigious motor shows. Actually, far from fun-filled frolics, they are usually a living hell, testing a hack’s stamina to file copy on time amid nightmarish logistical abilities.

Even so, inevitably there’s some time to meet and chat with other journalists from all over the planet, say, over dinner or a few drinks. Usually these are very pleasant affairs, but my last job, attending the Shanghai International Motor Show, had a slightly sweet and sour flavour. Our hosts were Shanghai Motor, the sixth biggest manufacturer in the world churning out seven million cars last year, though you may not yet have heard of them. Their hospitality was excellent but I am sorry to say the after-dinner chat was a bit embarrassing, for me. You see, as well as the usual exchange of tips about holidays and vitriol about Rupert Murdoch – a literally universally despised figure even among his own staffers – the talk eventually turned to Brexit. And when it did I found myself being mocked – mocked! – by Sri Lankans, Jordanians, Filipinos, Australians and almost everyone else. “What are you guys doing?” “What’s happening?” “It’s bad for your car industry.” “You must be mad.” “I feel sorry for Madame May.” Well, yes.

The Chinese were more polite and circumspect, but possibly because “the UK”, as everyone refers to Britain, is of such little commercial consequence these days to this mega peer. The only thing, by the way, that the Chinese seem to import from Britain is Scotch and luxury cars and an enthusiasm for Benedict Cumberbatch, whose name sometimes gets lost in translation.