Cross Cultural Communication in CHINA

We :

Amit Kr. Jha

Parikshit Shome

Partho Pratim Bora

Suresh Dash

Samarth Chanda

Welcome to China

CONTENT

INTRODUCTION

HISTORY

OVERVIEW

CHINESE COMMUNICATION CULTURAL

GOLDEN RULE (Key To Success in CHINA)

REFERENCES

Intro of China

RELIGIONS: Daoist ( ), ,

: 1%-2%, : 3%-4%

LANGUAGES: Mandarin, Yue, Minbei, English

CLIMATE: Extremely diverse; tropical in

south to subarctic in north

FAMOUS DISHES: Jiaozi, Baozi (Steamed

Buns); Chaomian (Fried noodles); Chaofen

(Fried Rice); Zhou (Breakfast Food)

FESTIVALS:

History of China

Yangshao Culture (late

Neolithic Period, c. 5000-3000

BC)

Liangzhu Culture (c. 3300-2200 BC)

Hongshan Culture (c. 3500

BC)

Bronze Culture 16th century BC and

flourished for 1000 years

Overview of China

Located in East Asia on the western shore of the Pacific

Ocean

Having a land area of about 9.6 million sq. km

Surrounded by 15 countries

With 5,400 islands in its territory

Being the third largest country in the world

Over 1.3 billion out of total 6.6 billion world population

Literacy rate: 95.1%

Life expectancy: 75.20 years

One child policy since 1978

Poverty rate from 53% in 1981 to 8% by 2001

The 3rd largest importer and 2nd largest exporter

Chinese

Communication Cultural

(Business Etiquette's)

Business Meetings

Assumption : The first person who enters the room is the head of the group.

Appointments are must.

Important guests are usually accompanied to their seats.

When exchanging business cards, hold your card using both hands with the

writing facing the recipient.

Receive the card with both hands, and look at it for a while before putting it in

your pocket.

Card should be exchanged individually.

Meetings begin with small talks. Resist the temptation to get down to business

right away.

Allow the Chinese to leave the meeting first.

Value of Time

Power Structure

Perception about time is linear. (Punctual).

Relatively more attention to the long term future.

Power distance is high with power distance index of 80.

Collectivism

Collectivist – Group loyalty, Decision-making oriented to group

welfare.

Spatial Relationships

Touching (i.e. patting someone’s back or putting an arm

around someone) is uncommon in Chinese culture and will

likely make a Chinese person uncomfortable.

Social distance, or the acceptable distance between two

people, differs significantly in each culture. Americans may

find that Chinese culture is oriented to a closer social

distance.

Greetings

Address a person by his/her family name. In china the

family name comes first.

For business purpose it is traditionally acceptable to

call them by surname, together with a title, such as

“Director Wang” or “Chairman Li”

Do not try to become too friendly too soon, and do not

insist them to address you by your given name.

Chinese way of greetings is a nod.

Handshake should be soft and lack of eye contact.

Gift Giving

Gifts in China means you are interested in building a relationship.

Particularly something representative about town, country, or region.

Do not expect your gift to be opened in your presence.

Do not use plain black or white paper gift pack, it’s a symbol of mourning.

Do not give flowers, clocks, handkerchiefs, umbrella or straw sandals as

they are associated with funerals and death.

Good gifts: Banquets, Fine Pen, Food items (Well packed).

Present gifts with both hands and mention it’s a small token of

appreciation.

Four is an unlucky number. Eight is the luckiest number.

Golden Rules

Change course from time to time.

Be prepared to tell white lies.

Have a lot of patience.

Do not try to change them. They are the way they are.

Carry a lot of Maggie, and readymade foods if you are a vegetarian.

Be prepared to eat new kinds of meat in the name of chicken.

Be prepared to face some of the hardest and longest negotiations

you’ve ever seen.

Be prepared to know that in most cases they don’t know the value of

lifetime customers.

And last but not the least learn the sign language, as they don’t

understand English and they won’t for another decade, and you can’t

learn Chinese.

Key to Success in China

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_culture

http://www.cultural-china.com/

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/