By Maarten Roos

An important difference in business practices between China and many western countries is the value that courts and officials give to the stamp (in China often referred to as the “chop” or seal). We introduce the rules and practice, and some suggestions on how to manage your risk.

For many western companies, the signature of its legal representative is the ultimate mark of authority. Not so in China. Since a representative’s signature is rarely registered, the value of the company stamp is far greater. Every company in China, after it is established, will make and register its company stamp with the local authorities (in this case the Public Security Bureau). Towards third parties, this company stamp represents the company, therefore documents bearing this stamp will generally be legal and binding upon that company – whether that document bears a signature or not! Read the rest of “Chinese Chops – the Ultimate Business Tool” or post a comment

How Is The Information Collected?

By Matthew Harrison, Director of B2B International China

Telephone and face-to-face interviews

Data collection in China is an area around which a number of ‘urban myths’ have developed. The most common of these is the statement that Chinese people (businesspeople or consumers) are unwilling to provide information over the telephone, and that face-to-face interviews are necessary in the majority of cases.

This is a gross exaggeration. In reality, there has been a significant move towards telephone-based research in business-to-business research (as well as consumer projects) over the past 5 years. It is now estimated that 50-55% of data collection in business-to-business markets is obtained via telephone, against around 10% in the year 2000.
Read the rest of “Business to Business Market Research in China – Part II” or post a comment

By Ron Cune

Though this statement seems to contradict many books about doing business in China, this statement is not referring to the calm “getting to know each other rituals” or handling operational management issues. Informal meetings and endless banquettes are considered by many Western businessmen as a waste of time. They prefer to ‘cut the crap and do business before flying back home.

Delaying techniques, however, are widely used for pressuring negotiations. The thought behind this is that the time-lacking party will be more open to concessions, to avoid returning home empty-handed. In this scenario pressure on the right spot can swift the situation into your advantage. Read the rest of “Patience doesn’t always pay off” or post a comment

By Ron Cune

In the Western world and especially in the Netherlands, open exchanges of view and fair discussions are very common. This sort of verbal interaction has a positive positively interpreted connotation. It is a proof the discussion partner is interested in you and your opinions.

How different this is in the Chinese society. Any confrontation directly showing disagreement or questioning the things said, will be interpreted as if you have second thoughts about the other’s personal experience or worse, about the person himself. Chinese counterparts feel attacked by receiving comments, this is a cultural issue. The term constructive criticism is therefore not very well known in China. Read the rest of “Constructive criticism or an insult?” or post a comment

By William Dodson

A simple taxi ride from Shanghai to Suzhou put me very much in mind of developing contracts with Chinese – even the simplest of contracts. Very seldom in business do Chinese adhere to the Letter of the Law, while they exorcise its Spirit at their earliest convenience. And if the agreement is verbal, then watch out!

The deal was this: for 300RMB – including tolls – the Shanghai driver would take me to Suzhou. Assumptions: the taxi driver with whom I made the deal will be the one taking me; only the taxi driver and I will be making the trip; the trip will be direct, along the HuNing Highway that connects the two cities; the trip should take about an hour, since it was already 8pm, past Shanghai rush hour. Train and bus tickets back home were sold out.

I explained to the police in Suzhou the reason I refused to pay the taxi driver the 300RMB – instead, offering 200rmb – was that the driver and the taxi ring had deceived me, wasted my time and scared me half to death. Mind you, it was I who had called the police, because a Deal is a Deal and by golly this interpreting agreements Chinese Way was seriously getting on my nerves at the end of the trip, near 11pm.
Read the rest of “Terms of frustration in China” or post a comment