Innovative and practical? Or completely useless? In Shenyang they figured it was worth finding out. Will it catch on?

Food is important in all cultures, but in China, it plays a paramount role as the tool for face and guanxi.

Business eating is where guanxi is established. To get to know another person and to build trust, eating together is necessary. The Chinese don’t eat at their desks, and they don’t rush out to the nearest fast-food joint. It is a specific time for talking and getting to know the other person. Typically, business is not discussed. That’s done during the many business meetings.

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It’s that time of the year again. We’re looking back on a spectacular year, so time for some reflection! Hereby we proudly present you the five most read articles of last year, the five most commented on articles and the top-10 list of countries where you, our readers, are from!

5 Most Read Articles: Read the rest of “China Business Success Articles, Top 2007″ or post a comment >>

By David Dayton

“Going to China” has become the mantra of the business world. You’re looking East. You’ve done your homework with AmCham (American Chamber of Commerce in China), on the Internet, with other “China Hands” and in your industry. You’ve found your “perfect supplier” on line, even found a second factory as a back-up. You’ve got a great bid on your product. The pictures of the factory look great, the samples are exactly what you want, and the phone conversations with the sales rep, while maybe a little limited, have been useful. You’re excited. Read the rest of “Working With Chinese Factories - Part II: Qualifying Your Overseas Supplier” or post a comment

One of the trends inherent to the economic growth in China, is the fact that more and more people are taking Chinese language classes. The best way to do that? Go to China and talk to Sally Zhang. She works as Program Director at the Chinese Language Education organization in Beijing. Conveniently located in the middle of Beijing’s business center.

Beijing is home to most of her students. “At this moment, we are teaching Chinese to 82 students. Mostly Westerners, but also people coming from Japan and Korea. The continuously increasing amount of students can to a degree be explained, by the steadily increasing number of foreign companies in China. A few years ago, there was only the Chinese bank, nowadays I have five students who work for foreign banks operating in China. These financial professionals need to be able to read newspapers and documents in English as well as in Chinese. Fortunately for them, they work at companies where English is, at this point in time, the most common language.”

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