1
Copyright20062011LotharKatz
Negotiati
gI
ter
atio
alBusi
essChi
a
Thissectio
isa
excerptfromthebook“Negotiati
gI
ter
atio
alBusi
essTheNegotiator’s
Refere
ceGuideto50Cou
triesArou
dtheWorld”byLotharKatzIthasbee
updatedwith
i
putsfromreadersa
dothersmostrece
tlyi
September2011
ThePeople’sRepublicofChi
aisi
themidstofamajortra
sitio
fromrigidmu
ist
cou
trytofreemarketsocietyMajorstylevaria
ceshaveevolvedacrossthe
cou
try’sbusi
esspopulatio
a
dmustbeco
sideredwhe
doi
gbusi
esshere
Fori
sta
cesig
ifica
tculturaldiffere
cesexistbetwee
rurala
durba
areasas
wellasbetwee
oldpeoplea
dyou
gero
esGe
erallyyou
gpeoplei
major
urba
areasaremoreaggressivea
dwilli
gtomovefastertha
oldero
esi
rural
areasmaybeBecauseofthehighlypetitivejobmarketsi
someofChi
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ess
hotspotssuchasSha
ghaiorShe
zhe
employeetur
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ifica
t
amo
gtheyou
gerpopulatio
Thismakesthemmore
eartermorie
teda
dless
focusedo
relatio
shipstha
otherpartsoftheChi
eseworkforceNeverthelessthe
cou
try’scultureisquitehomoge
eousoverall
WhilemostChi
esebusi
esspeoplea
dofficialshaveo
lylimitedexposuretoother
culturessomeareverysavvyi
doi
gi
ter
atio
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dmayappearquite
‘wester
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gstobedo
e‘theirway’though
a
dletthemsetthepacei
itiallyu
tilyouhavehadacha
cetodetermi
ehowyour
i
teractio
ca
bemosteffective
Owi
gtoChi
a’slo
gperiodofisolatio
thereusedtobeage
eralbiasagai
st
foreig
ersThisisgraduallydisappeari
gi
ma
yofthecou
try’sbusi
essce
ters
Howeveritiscrucialtoshowrespectforthecou
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dimporta
ce
Whilethereis
oproblemwithcalli
gChi
aadevelopi
gcou
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otrefertoit
asathirdworldcou
tryAfterallChi
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ceasapowerful
atio
reaches
backsome5000yearsItwasthecradleforcou
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gi
ve
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sa
d
hasdomi
atedtheworldasitseco
omicce
teroverthecourseofseveralce
turies
Relatio
shipsa
dRespect
Chi
a’scultureisstro
glygrouporie
tedI
dividualprefere
cesareco
sideredfar
lessreleva
ttha
havi
gase
seofbelo
gi
gtoagroupco
formi
gtoits
orms
a
dmai
tai
i
gharmo
yamo
gitsmembersThisisgraduallycha
gi
gamo
g
theyou
gerge
eratio
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a
ycasebuildi
glasti
ga
dtrusti
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relatio
shipsiscriticallyimporta
tWhilemembersofotherculturesmayexpectthis
tohappe
graduallyoverthecourseofabusi
esse
gageme
tma
yChi
eseexpect
ftoestablishstro
gbo
dspriortoclosi
ga
ydealsa
dtoco
ti
uedevelopi
gthem
i
totruefrie
dshipsasthebusi
esspart
ershipco
ti
uesCo
seque
tlyproceed
withseriousbusi
essdiscussio
so
lyafteryourcou
terpartshavebeefortablewith
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