Dinner Workshop Discussion Notes3 December 2014

Doing business in China

How important is the drinking and socialising? And what are the top 6social etiquettes?

1

How important is the drinking and socialising when trying to do business in China in your experience?

It depends on whether you need something from them or they need something from you. If you need something from them, then the drinking & socialising becomes very important.

In Chinese, we call a business dinner ‘fanju’ (饭局), which literally means a dinner plan or strategy – it’s something that’s planned to achieve the desired business results.

There are Chinese books on how one can best plan a ‘fanju’– so this seems important for even the Chinese doing business amongst themselves!

© China Unbound, Dinner Workshop Discussion Notes. 3 December 2014

0% (0/11)

0% (0/11)

0% (0/11)

9% (1/11)

27% (3/11)

27% (3/11)

36% (4/11)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

1 - Not important!

2

3

4 - Moderately important

5

6

7 - Very important!

2

How important is the drinking and socialising when trying to do business in China in your experience?

Your guests are likely to interpret the price of the meal as how sincere you are about the business relationship or how important you think they are.

Always try to book a private room, otherwise you are telling your guests they are not important enough!

Business is often done outside of offices on dinner tables, and entertainment areas such as Karaoke rooms in China.

3© China Unbound, Dinner Workshop Discussion Notes. 3 December 2014

Top 6 rules of social etiquette in your experience...?

1. Where you sit is very important, as it indicates status/seniority.

If you are a guest, don’t sit down until you are seated by your host. Usually the centre of the table are the most important seats (where the host will sit), the closer to the host the more important the seats.

2. If you are a guest, your host will toast to you throughout the meal. You should return the toast before the meal ends, otherwise it’s impolite.

3. When toasting, you should stand up, or at least half stand to show respect.

4© China Unbound, Dinner Workshop Discussion Notes. 3 December 2014

4. It’s polite to finish your drink in a toast.

5. If your Chinese contacts are more senior than you (in age or title), address them by their title or surname (e.g. Mr Lee, Director Lee). It’s rude to call someone by their first name in a business context

6. Always give business cards with two hands and accept them withtwo hands. Don’t write on the business cards, especially in front of the person!

Top 6 rules of social etiquette in your experience...?

5© China Unbound, Dinner Workshop Discussion Notes. 3 December 2014

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