The 48 Group refers to a collection of individuals and companies that, beginning in the 1950s, were among the first British firms to do business in the newly formed People’s Republic of China. The “Club” of the name was added in 1991 after a merger with the Sino-British Trade Council.
The seed of the 48 Group Club was planted in 1953 by a group of British businesspeople who, along with then-premier Zhou Enlai (1898–1976), became known as
