It’s a warm day in northern China, but it’s cool inside our BMW limousine as it pulls out of the carpark at a new biodiesel plant in Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province. My two companions clock up thousands of miles in these comfy cars on fact-finding trips around China, visiting dozens of small companies that might just be the next big growth story their investors are looking for.

Clare Duan and Tina Yu are American-educated investment professionals who work for Vision Opportunity China (VOC), a US-run, London-listed stock market fund. “We’re part of a large team of Chinese-born-and-bred researchers and analysts, all of whom are absolutely encouraged to get their hands dirty very early on. It’s a great place to learn,” Yu says.

On the road, they meet China’s next generation of entrepreneurs, many of whom receive backing from VOC. “All of the entrepreneurs are unique in their own walk of life and are all great people we want to learn from,” says Yu, 34. “Although most of them do not speak English and they sometimes have difficulties communicating with western investors they’ve all had legendary life experiences.”