The fact that there are now direct flights between China and Ireland made little impression on me when the announcement was made, but in fact the move reflects what has been a fundamental change in Ireland’s trading patterns and in the development of China over the last decade.

Last week an Irish-Chinese economic summit was held with well over 100 Chinese businesspeople having made what is now an easy non-stop flight. While we are all fully aware of how important China has become as a market for agricultural produce, it is now our biggest market for milk powder and our second-most important market for pork. What hasn’t been widely realised is the speed of the increase in trade from €200m as recently as 2010 to well over €1bn this year. It clearly, all going well, is not going to stop there.

I was fascinated to hear the Enterprise Ireland speaker, as he moved from Mandarin Chinese to English and back again, draw attention to the similarities between the two countries – they were both declared a republic in 1949, they have both had rapid economic growth over the last 20 years coinciding with a much more open approach to the world.

But of course there is more to the relationship than a series of happy coincidences. As a small country, Ireland is a threat to nobody, but in today’s world it is a continuing challenge to maintain cordial relations with countries of widely different ideologies and interests.

The current deterioration in relations between the US and China will hopefully not force us to overtly take sides. It is in circumstances such as these that full and involved membership of the EU is so important. China, as well as the US, see us as a natural gateway to Europe – a gateway without any of the awkward legacy issues of the great former colonial powers.

Part of the Chinese interest last week was in tourism and horses. A visit to the Irish National Stud, with its famous Japanese gardens, provided a diversion, with the potential to grow into something bigger as China opens up to horse racing and betting.

But in the shorter term, David Kennedy of Bord Bia left us in no doubt that as Brexit problems loom, continuing growth in the Chinese demand for Irish food products provides potential for some reduction in the damage that may be inflicted.