Because China belongs to the Eastern culture, the business relationships and practices within the country are extremely different from the ones within the West. Here, we shed a bit of light on the traditions and rules of Chinese negotiations.
Firstly, Chinese people prefer to set up a relationship above anything else, as well as, if a trusting personal relationship gets established, business transactions might follow. The recommendation here includes looking for common ground in between the partners. It can consist of anything: from a mutual University, to shared interests and hobbies. One other point to keep in mind is that Chinese people ask questions which may seem inappropriate and impertinent to many westerners. The ideal solution includes politely answering their questions instead of taking offense or trying to inject wit into the scene.
Secondly, a greeting will play a huge part within the Chinese social life – a greeting could make you seem totally tactless or respectful. Light handshakes are the standardized greeting during business meetings. Firstly, greet the most senior individual then stay standing for introductions. It’s usual for Chinese people to lower their eyes slightly as a signal of respect.
Thirdly, Easterners consider the concept of ‘face’ extremely critical, that’s to say, you ought to respect the Chinese need to gain then maintain face within negotiations. Within the office, be certain you don’t ask anybody to perform an activity they might consider beneath them, or a working relationship might be destroyed.
As a rule, meetings will be dictated by the most senior individual there. Be ready for negotiations to be performed in Chinese. In the instance you don’t master Chinese; it might be off-putting, due to the length of the translations being highly different from the Chinese length. Taking brief notes, as the Chinese partners take time to consider their points, is helpful.
For further review, check out this video concerning meeting with Chinese business executives: http://www.ehow.com/video_4936098_chinese-business-etiquette-formal-meetings.html
