Foreign governments and companies want to cash in on China's success and are mixing business and pleasure to do just that, writes Jonathan Watts.

What Mao Zedong would have made of it is hard to imagine. Beijing's Great Hall of the People, once the reddest place on earth in political terms, turned a shade of green to stage sell-out performances of the Irish cultural extravaganza, Riverdance.

The temporary conversion of the communist nation's nominal legislature marks the biggest international production to hit China, where the world's largest population and fastest growing economy are attracting a growing number of overseas performers.

The vast stage, which is better known as the platform for speeches by Communist party leaders, has been filled with about 100 dancers, musicians and production staff tapping, drumming and fiddling out jigs and ballads from the other side of the planet.

In the audience, a full house of almost 7,000 people sit at the desks usually reserved for legislators. Though few could have been there to connect with their Irish roots, they gave the show a thunderous standing ovation.

This remarkable coming-together of spectators and performers from such diverse backgrounds reflects the growing cultural curiosity and economic affluence of China's rising middle-class, as well as the changing strategies of foreign governments and businesses who want to cash in on the Asian nation's success.

For most of the past few decades politicians and artists visiting Beijing would have been expected to put human rights and political reform at the top of their agendas.

But now they spend more time pushing cultural exchange and trade as the way to win wallets as well as hearts and minds.

Riverdance is spearheading the biggest Irish trade mission ever sent to China. Among the audience were the president, Mrs McAleese, the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, and 174 visiting businesspeople.

In July at the same venue, Tony Blair, lobbied for P&O, Lloyds of London and numerous other British firms.

There was no singing or dancing at those closed-door talks with the Chinese leadership, but cultural exchange was a central theme of his visit, which was timed to promote a major art, technology and education campaign run by the embassy and British Council.

During one of these "Think UK" events, Cherie Blair regaled Chinese students with a version of the Beatles song, When I'm 64.

More foreigners are likely to be singing for their Chinese supper in the future. With manufacturers moving east in huge numbers, Ireland and other countries will need to sell culture and services to avoid a huge balance of payments deficit.

China's urban middle class - the 100 million people with an average annual income of 60,000 RMB (€6,207)) - appear increasingly keen on western art, films, sport and music, most of which were banned during the cultural revolution.

With their numbers expected to quadruple by 2010, this rising class are attracting a growing number of big international names. In July, David Beckham and Real Madrid toured here for the first time, playing friendly matches to huge crowds.

Beijing TV carries bullfights from Spain, as well as international tennis and golf. Even in the countryside, buses show dubbed videos of Jerry Bruckheimer blockbusters.

Whether foreign artists make money in China, however, is another matter altogether. With little knowledge about the market, it is hard for promoters to know who or what will be a hit.

Although they are popular around the world, the opera of the Three Tenors and the Icelandic pop of Bjork failed to draw crowds at earlier groundbreaking concerts in China.

But the Rolling Stones said last night they would be giving two shows next month, despite the local promoters saying last week they had withdrawn the offer. They had received a deposit and legal contract.

There can be little promotional benefit because everything from Hollywood films to Harry Potter books is pirated on a huge scale. Industry analysts estimate that 95per cent of all audio CDs and 90 per cent of all film DVDs sold in China are fakes.

But people are willing to pay relatively large sums to see concerts. For many of the newly affluent, seeing a foreign show is as much a status symbol as owning a new car -both of which were undreamable 10 years ago.

"I'd pay up to 500 RMB for a Rolling Stones ticket," said Mr Wang Wei, a 27-year-old engineer, who says his salary has tripled in the past four years.

"I love Queen and Metallica and I prefer Hollywood movies to Chinese ones. Western musicians and filmmakers are more creative. Chinese rock stars are just imitators."

Although hundreds of thousands of people among the 1.3 billion population live on less than $1 a day, 50,000 Riverdance tickets sold out despite prices ranging from 380 RMB to nearly 1,280 RMB.

The organisers claim they had to put on two extra shows to meet the demand. But Riverdance managers estimate that they will lose €710,000 in China this year because they have not been given a share of receipts.

However, executive producer Mr Julian Erskine says the tour is an investment in the future.

"It is the last major untapped market for us. We are going to Beijing and Shanghai as a way of testing the waters. "If it works, we will plan a 12-city tour for about 15 weeks next year," he told Variety magazine.

"We ultimately hope to open up a circuit in the Far East, of which China would be the hub."

But language, distance and heavy censorship look set to slow the advance of global culture. Even Riverdance, which was enthusiastically promoted by the state-controlled media, appears not to have got its message across completely.

"Although I am not a Christian, I found it incredibly moving," said one delighted spectator during the interval of last Friday's show. "I didn't realise Scottish culture was so fantastic." He was not the only one to make the same mistake.