Sometimes though you need someone for  the formalities and make the introductions, someone of stature, someone who commands respect, someone like the prime minister.
And that's exactly what Mark Otty, head of Ernst & Young, John Connolly head of Deloitte and KPMG's chairman John Griffith-Jones of KPMG, have in Gordon Brown on the PM's current trip to China accompanied by a host of other UK business big wigs.
Not only will they benefit from Brown's presence with the Chinese, but they're also locked up with the likes of Arun Sarin of Vodafone, Marcus Agius of Barclays and David Brennan of AstraZeneca. It is, in short, the dream networking opportunity for a provider of professional services.
Of course, it's quite smart taking all these accounting, technology, financial services and energy experts, because its much too late to introduce manufacturers to the Chinese.
But accountants, that's interesting. There's no doubt the Chinese are big on accounting. They're buying into IFRS, growing their own profession at an exponential rate and see reliable accounting, quite rightly, as a route to international financial credibility.
Oddly though, the authorities in China are also very interested in exporting accounting services and have talked publicly in the past about developing home grown firms to compete with the Big Four. Interesting to see how that all works out. And I'd love to be listening in to
Let me take this opportunity to make an observation however. It may be a little unfair, but I'll make it all the same. While on holiday in France in 2004 the TV stations were full of news about a trip by Jacques Chirac to China accompanied by a 747 load of French businessmen. They threw everything at the trip. Chirac himself was lauded as a master of bonding with the Chinese and during the course of a couple of weeks networked relentlessly at function after function on behalf of French business. He was even featured in an hour long interview on national TV about relations with China and France's place in the world.
That was fours years ago and I note this morning references to the fact that exports from, not only France, but Germany and Italy too, all out do sales from the UK. There's a game of catch up to be played here and Gordon is not renowned for his socialising skills. Hope this trip means his game is on the up.