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Review focus: communication, China, business relationships, business associates, Chinese, translation, government, businesspeople
Asian Business Code Words Index NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company Asian Business Strategy & Street Intelligence Ezine
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One point that new as well as old China hands repeatedly emphasize is the importance of person-to-person communication in doing business in China. They point out that unless the Chinese know you personally and have acknowledged your existence, you do not exist, and no amount of letter writing, telexing, or faxing will do any good. The Chinese political system does not favour its citizens making friends with foreigners, either for specific business purposes or for social reasons. From the government viewpoint, all relationships with foreigners should be limited to those between offices, companies, and other organizations, and not be put on a personal level. And all those wonderful toasts to friendship cannot be taken too personally - except perhaps for billionaire business people and ex-government leaders who have established an enduring rapport with the highest levels of Chinese officials. Of course, the government's attitude toward relationships between ordinary people is virtually impossible to enforce, but it does tend to put a damper on the social life of foreign business people in China.
Generally, the more of your material you can translate into Chinese the better off you will be from the viewpoint of clear communication and time. When translations are left to the Chinese side, you lose a lot of control, and it usually takes a long time because the translation sections of the various ministries and organizations are invariably overloaded with work.
It is a good idea for business groups to prepare rosters of their members, including pertinent biographical and professional information about each member. You should send these to China in advance and take along ample copies to pass out to appropriate officials and managers not on the mailing list.
If you are going to be using any kind of audiovisual or other type of electrical equipment during your visit to China, especially in outlying provincial cities, it is a good idea to carry with you an assortment of adaptors and electrical plugs, since sockets are not always standard. International hotels can usually be depended upon for transformers and adaptors.
Business groups invited to China should be prepared for a full, heavy schedule. The Chinese appreciate evening banquets, brief side trips for sightseeing (usually on Sundays) during business trips, and short rest breaks, but they do their best to get as much as possible out of every encounter. Another point to keep in mind is that the Chinese are sticklers for punctuality. They expect people to be on time or early for appointments and meetings. Being late is regarded as lacking in sincerity and concern for others.
A Chinese attorney-friend in Beijing repeated a popular story about the reaction of foreign business people to Chinese as compared to Japanese. The foreigner, the attorney said, does not have to be afraid of a one-on-one situation with a Japanese because individually the Japanese tend to be weak and easily intimidated by their foreign counterparts. The situation is reversed, however, when foreign business people are faced by two Japanese because they "team up" and are therefore able to outlast and outmaneuver them, he continued. On the other hand, the attorney went on, foreign business people have learned to be cautious in dealing with a single Chinese because he or she functions best alone. Put two Chinese (of equal status) together, however, and you have an instant conflict. They will disagree and argue and present a divided front, weakening their bargaining powers, he said. The attorney also reemphasized that patience and persistence, coupled with the age-old practice of "buying" cooperation through doing favors and giving gifts, is still an essential ingredient in doing business in China. he illustrated the point: "On your first visit to a government official it is very unlikely that he will do anything on your behalf. If you remain polite and deferential and leave some kind of desirable gift (which the official will repeatedly tell you he cannot accept), and then go back a second and probably third time, continuing to nurture the relationship, chances are the official will eventually say, "What can I do for you?" and then proceed to do it." In another scenario comparing one of the differences between Western and Japanese business people in China, the attorney said a Japanese will go to an office for some kind of official action or help that he needs, be put off with some excuse and told to come back again - maybe two or three days or even a week or more later. The Japanese will quietly accept the situation and come back when he is told to. Western business people, however, and particularly Americans, are very likely to point out that they are going to be in China for only a certain number of days, that it is costing them enormous amounts of money to stay there, that what they are trying to do will benefit China, and so on. This reaction generally has no positive effect at all on the Chinese. In fact, it is very likely to make the Chinese cadre even less cooperative. When the Chinese repeats what he or she said the first time, foreigners often say that they cannot possibly stay several more days or whatever. To which the typical response from the Chinese is "suit yourself."
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Boye Lafayette de Mente is one of our regular monthly columnists at the 
| This month's column is excerpted from NTC's Chinese Etiquette & Ethics in Business, by Boye Lafayette De Mente available from NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company |
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