Career Article On Chinese Customs & Culture
Chinese Customs - How much you know about China? Chinese Customs seemed changing now. To establish relationship with China is no longer easier than before, like 10 - 20 years ago. China today is moving fast and changing faster than ever that even its own people could not catch up.
China is the world's most populous nation. About 20 percent of the population lives in urban areas. A little over 90 percent are Han Chinese; the remaining percentage, or around 70 million people, includes 55 national minorities who differ fundamentally in their customs, traditions, languages, and culture from the Han Chinese. The minorities have been exempted from China's strict population controls.
Although Chinese politeness has always been a formal one that follows strict rules, in some situations Chinese people can seem quite impolite by Western norms. Nevertheless, travelers are advised to remain polite towards their Chinese counterparts, and to refrain from shouting or being insulting. Stay calm in all situations but indicate your problem or inquiry politely and firmly.
It is very common the Chinese Customs to greet people with a handshake. Whereas embracing or kissing when greeting or saying good-by is highly unusual.Generally, Chinese do not show their emotions and feelings in public. Consequently, it is better not to behave in too carefree a manner in public.
For Chinese, it is bad to lose face, especially in front of a foreigner. Don't put a Chinese in a position where they might do so. Also don't show your sense of humor too often because most of Chinese would not understand your meaning, and they might lose face if it happen.
Dressing formally is extremely important, special your first meet with Chinese, regardless you are at an official event or a private party. In Chinese Customs, well dressing and looks formal will be treated as a serious business person. Their first sense on you is half success of your business.
In China, answers to questions weren't the straightforward "yes" or "no" that Western people expect. In Chinese Customs, almost everything was nuanced, and understanding the nuances was the key to dealing with Chinese. The better way is try your best to let them understand you completely, point by point, before next step.
If you deal with the business circle in China, avoid joint ventures with government controlled enterprises. It is tough to involve yourself in, especially to those small foreign business companies.
If you have no other choice more than a joint venture, get a majority stake, control the board, and install your own CEO,CFO and HR director. Doing business in such industry in China, you have to do a lot research until you are ready to go. You can find the true experienced story by James McGregor at One Billion Customers: Lessons from the Front Lines of Doing Business in China (Wall Street Journal Book)
From Career Article On Chinese Customs page to Import and Export Business page
From Career Article On Chinese Customs page to Home page
About The Book Chinese Characteristics
|
