Como China tem stormed no estágio do mundo do excesso do comércio internacional a década passada, muito foi escrito sobre as oportunidades e os perils de fazer o negócio lá. Para ser bem sucedido, é crítico reconhecer e compreender as forças subjacentes que estão no trabalho nessa cultura.

Alguns chineses seconsultam- como o “bambu”; são muito resistentes e resilient - e há uma pilha da maca das companhias ocidentais que deixaram de funcionar e se queimaram em China para a provar. Entretanto, remanesce umas oportunidades immense de fazer lá o negócio enquanto olham para a frente a uma outra década de uma média do crescimento anual de 10% - e o emergence de uma classe média que esteja a ponto de se transformar um mercado grande para produtos importados. A chave está a compreenda o que dirigem seu comportamento, e como guardar de encontro aos riscos que lurk entre as oportunidades.

Não bata práticas de negócio chinesas prevalecendo - instead, compreendem as forças cultural que influenciam como pensam e agem no negócio.

Explore 8 “pontas da abertura da porta” a ganhar uma compreensão dos valores que influenciam seu comportamento do negócio:

Porta # 1 - cultive relacionamentos
Guanxi - ou relações pessoais - seja extremamente importante na cultura chinesa. A fim começar um negócio razoável, é muito importante estabelecer um relacionamento pessoal bom com os principais no outro lado. O melhor seu relacionamento, a possibilidade que melhor você tem de negociar um acordo viable que beneficia ambos os partidos.

Porta #2 - Consenso do recolhimento
A cara do Saving é um interesse principal para povos em muitas culturas Asian, e China não é nenhum diferente. They are very afraid of making a mistake, and if not entirely sure they are right, they are extremely reluctant to make a move. This is also reflected in their emphasis on group decision-making – often at the expense of personal initiative. Unless you are dealing with the top decision-maker at a company, expect delays in receiving a definitive answer while group consensus is being built at their end.

Door #3 – Embrace Hard Work Ethics
The Chinese value hard work on its own merit, and disdain those who don’t. "She doesn’t have a good job because she didn’t study in school" was a comment I heard while in Shanghai recently. The stereotype of hardworking Chinese students here in North America stems from this very real value in their culture.

Door #5 – Get It In Writing
Getting every aspect of a business transaction in writing applies in China, no matter how miniscule or obvious it may appear to us. Common knowledge and "goes without saying" does not exist, and if you leave yourself open by missing a detail in a contract, it will commonly be viewed as an opportunity to take advantage of your mistake – and in their mind, that’s your fault, not theirs. Exact specifications should be included not only for the product itself, but also for the manufacturing process, raw materials, packaging, delivery times, and everything else imaginable that could affect the delivery, performance, and payment for the product.

Door #6 – Request Competitor Quotes
Benchmarking is extremely important to ensure that you receive a reasonable price. The first quote you receive for a product may be outrageous, but you can usually find out quickly by also requesting quotes from their competitors. The existence of intense domestic competition in China is one of the reasons they are so competitive in world markets.

Door #7 – Practice Business Savvy
Keep in mind that things are not always as they seem in China. You may be led to believe certain things about a company there, but when you go to check it out for yourself (or get your representative – Chinese speaking, of course – to do it for you) you may find the reality is far different. Here are some suggestions, based on real-life examples. If a company promotes itself to be ISO 9000 registered, be sure to ask for proof – and review the documentation carefully and confirm with the certifying ISO registrar. If a company purports to use a specific high grade of steel in its products, ask for the certificate of authenticity – in one case a metal stamping die was built of some type of steel that could not even be welded when the product needed to be serviced. And photos of factories may appear quite "different" from the real thing when it’s actually visited!

Door #8 – Know How They Negotiate
The Chinese are excellent negotiators. When selling to them, their first answer to your quoted price, no matter what it is, is almost always "no", or "impossible". They know that Westerners often don’t adapt their style to suit Chinese values; don’t take the time to develop relationships (after all, in Western culture, personal relationships are not usually necessary to do business) and are often in a hurry to make a deal and go home. So they wait, watch, and listen – and take advantage of opportunities when they can.

Doors of opportunity in China abound – if you are prepared to knock before entering.