Doing Business with the Chinese. This you must know before you have your first meeting.

As you might know, a big part of my professional life has been doing business in China. From retail products to ingredients. There is an important factor to have in mind when starting a business relationship with the Chinese. The cultural factor, as hard as it sounds there are a lot of differences between the occidental culture versus the oriental. Something as simple as giving a watch for a gift could cause the lost of a business opportunity.

Here are some simple things that can go a long way during your first approach with a Chinese businessperson.

BUSINESS CARDS: I know it’s 2019, who uses business cards? Well, the Chinese do. In fact, giving your business card will be the first thing they will do as soon as they walk into your office. If you don’t use business cards, you might want to purchase a few.

Getting someone business card is a ritual this is what you have to do when you get one:

The business card is always given at the beginning of the meeting you must take it from the bottom corners of the card with the fingers of both hands and making a slight inclination of the torso forward, as you do for the greetings. Once you get it you must take a few seconds to read what’s in it, it shows you care about what you’re getting. Then you must place it in your shirt’s left pocket (never inside your wallet) this shows appreciation.

A NON-INVASIVE GREETING: there’s this belief that a strong handshake shows power and strength. Some people even suggest grabbing the persons elbow when shaking their hand. This absolutely does not apply to the Asians. When saying hello or goodbye to someone, make a slight inclination of your torso and then shake hand. This shows respect and also shows that both are open to communicate and share opinions.

IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT THE MONEY: Asians believe in long term relationships; they will want to know who they are doing business with and you will need to earn their trust. If you are interested in making a long business relationship don’t focus on the deal. Talk about you, what you do, about your other interests, movies, whatever you want. Once they trust you, everything will come easily.

YOU WILL EAT IT, AND YOU WILL LOVE IT: I know, Asian food and drinks sometimes are a big shock to what we are used to, its not what panda express made us believe. But if you are in a business dinner with a Chinese, you will have to eat and drink what they suggest, remember for them their food is a big part of their culture, and if you want to do business with them, they assume you are also interested in their culture. It is rude to say you don’t like it, act like you are allergic to skip that meal, or the leave the plate untouched. Sorry, you will have to deal with it, and sometimes you will even be surprised of just how good the food is.

WHEN THE BUSINESS TIME COMES, MAKE SURE YOU LOOK AT THE PERSON IN CHARGE: most of the time, if not always, Asians travel in groups. From the start make sure you identify the person who can make the decisions. When the time to do business comes, you shall look at him at all time, he is the person who will say the final word. In America, it is rude to ignore the other people, we tend to keep looking at all the people in the room while talking, this is not something to worry about in China.

LEARN A FEW CHINESE WORDS: nothing shows more respect and interest than a person who took some time to learn a few words in your language. I speak fluent Chinese and I can say that when the first words I say are in mandarin, it is the biggest ice breaker. They will pay more attention to what you say and they will definitely feel more comfortable with you. (I will make another post about a few Chinese phrases).

RED IS THE COLOR:

As you might notice the Chinese love the red color. For them it symbolizes good fortune and joy. So if you are a lady you might want to get that red dress you always wanted to wear and if you are a man, maybe a red tie.

NEVER, EVER GIVE A WATCH AS A GIFT:

Am I kidding? No, I am not, this has something to do with the fact that in Chinese when you say 'give a clock' (送钟 sòng zhōng ) sounds pretty much like saying you are going to a funeral (送终 sòng zhōng).

Like I said in the past, China has a lot to offer when it comes to business, it is a great opportunity to expand your business. Just make sure you are doing it the right way.