Fewer than one in 500 UK school pupils aged between 16 and 18 learn Chinese.
British business writer Tim Clissold wants to change that.
He spent many years living in China with his family and, having returned to the UK, is campaigning for the Chinese Civilization 'A' level syllabus he co-wrote accepted by education chiefs.
Clissold has taken his campaign to the very highest levels of government.
Very few UK schoolchildren learn Chinese. /CGTN
He told CGTN Europe: "About 30 years ago I went to work in China and brought up a family of four children there. The experience deeply affected me and there's many things I learned that are tremendously useful reference points for Western society."
'A' Levels are taken by 18-year-olds across the UK as their final secondary school exams, with their grades helping universities select undergraduates for all courses.
"Over recent years, I've coordinated the creation of a new A-level syllabus in Chinese Civilization, written by 12 of the leading China scholars in the UK based at a variety of universities," Clissold said.
"I've got an exam board that would like to set and assess and award the qualification. It needs to be approved by OFQUAL, which is the educational regulator, and that needs sign off by the UK Government," he added.
So far, Clissold's efforts have come to nothing, something he finds "tremendously disappointing, particularly where we've provided a solution and it's funded."
Experts believe there are three issues that contribute to the low uptake in Chinese studies among British pupils.
Firstly, the UK has a dearth of qualified Chinese teachers. It's also a more difficult language for westerners to learn than popular European options such as French, Spanish, and German.
Finally, it's tough for pupils to achieve a high grade when they are often in competition with native speakers. With high 'A' Level grades essential to secure a place at the country's top universities, this puts off many potential candidates.
Clissold has taken his campaign direct to 10 Downing Street. /CGTN
Improved understanding
Clissold hopes the option of a Chinese Civilization course, as opposed to a straight linguistic syllabus, would provide a useful alternative for pupils.
He also believes it would help the UK improve its understanding of China, which he thinks essential, as the Asian powerhouse grows in economic and political importance.
"Ultimately we have to do something about the lack of knowledge about Chinese civilization," he said. "We have to empower the next generation to be able to interact more strongly with China. You have to know more about it to be able to interact with that. That's a basic Chinese philosophy itself."
Professor Rana Mitter, a British historian and political scientist specializing in the history of China, is also worried by the lack of Chinese speaking in the UK.
Mitter told CGTN: "There are some universities which have fantastic courses which teach modern Chinese language and deep classical Chinese language in detail. There are also programs, some of them sponsored by private companies, some of them with government encouragement, that try and introduce some level of Putonghua Mandarin language into schools, high schools, in the UK.
"But there's still a sense that compared to the importance of China, we don't have necessarily enough teaching of Chinese that spreads throughout the country as a whole."
Clissold agrees wholeheartedly. "The truth is the Chinese people know much more about us than we know about them and that gives them a competitive advantage," he said. "We've got a duty to equip the next generation in our country to understand more about China so that they can cooperate and compete."
Clissold has published three books concerning China – a poetry anthology translating some of China's most famous poets into English, a cultural study of modern China, and a memoir which is based on a true story of a tough Wall Street banker who came to China looking for glory.
In recent years Clissold's campaign has won support from his local member of parliament. This has raised hopes of a breakthrough, because his MP is Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
If Sunak shares this philosophy, then China's language and history could potentially become a key part of the UK school curriculum.
One of his constituents won't rest until it does.