The book focuses on the growing international presence of Chinese companies over the past 15 or 20 years. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The author, who retains an interest in soccer as director of the Football Federation Australia, did not complete his first degree at Edinburgh University, but started out as a business analyst for Lloyds Bank in the 1980s in London.

He settled in Australia in 2001, where he worked for ANZ Bank and then National Australia Bank. He is now the CEO and co-founder of Judo Capital, a bank that specializes in lending to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Healy says Chinese businesses should not be judged purely on their size.

According to management consultancy McKinsey & Co, 45 percent of the Fortune Global 500 companies by 2025 will be from emerging markets, a large number of them Chinese.

"Being big is one thing, but that should not be the benchmark for Chinese businesses. Chinese banks now are the biggest in the world, but they are not international," he says.

Healy is more impressed by how China is pioneering the technology for payment systems like Alipay and WeChat Pay.

"What China is doing in this area makes the West look primitive. This is one area where this capability could be exported," he says.

As was evidenced at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai earlier this month, China's own market-and particularly its middle-class consumers-represents a major opportunity for businesses around the world.

"Businesses see this opportunity in China and they want to be much closer to China. At the political end of the spectrum, that sense of strategic partnership just doesn't exist, unfortunately," he says.

However, Healy is particularly excited about the potential of China's Belt and Road Initiative.

"It is going to open up markets right across Asia, and it will touch on Europe and other places around the world. It is going to be a great opportunity for Chinese businesses and Western ones as well."