Do not ever ease your grip on the Chinese and keep them on a short leash. Only then will they keep their promises. Do not relax and never let the Chinese relax. Ever. Let them always feel your steel backbone. Otherwise, get used to delays, unreasonable prices, damages and other disappointments.
First and foremost, a Chinese negotiator should have a strong character. What does it mean? The way I put it, he or she should have «balls of steel», the absence of which makes negotiations with the Dragon pointless.
36 stratagems
A stratagem is basically a ploy. When we hear «ploy», we hear «dishonest», but the Chinese see it as an ingenious solution to a problem, which does not necessarily include dishonesty. We add a negative connotation to the word «ploy», and we are wary of cunning people, but the Chinese have more respect for those who can be crafty and come up with a clever solution to a problem. As you can see, in China, the word «ploy» has a positive meaning.
This is how all matters are resolved in China, even legal ones. This is why laws in China do not work — nobody pays attention at them, really. The Chinese say that a law is just a piece of paper you can tear up and throw away. They never rely on laws; moreover, they are certain that abiding by them will do nothing but harm. Connections are everything in China. Without them, a Chinese person is unlikely to achieve anything in life, and, in some cases, has a greater chance of losing it.
In low context culture, business always comes first, while social trust and personal relationships are less valuable. This helps negotiations progress faster and more efficiently.
High context culture includes China, Japan, Vietnam, Arabic countries, Korea, Italy, Spain and France.
Low context culture, in turn, is represented by the USA, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Scandinavia, among others.
Russia is somewhere in between, preferring to handle business matters in the low context fashion, but dealing with personal issues as a high context culture. Below you will find a comparison table.
He told me that, psychologically, Chinese adults are very similar to Western 15-year-olds. I did not believe him, obviously. But less than in a month’s time, when I travelled to a different part of China, I discovered he was right. Indeed, before starting up any business relations with the Chinese, it is a good idea to study the «Teenage» section of an age psychology book. It does put everything into place.
If you sign a contract with clearly unfavorable terms, you lose face. If a Chinese person signs a contract with clearly unfavorable terms, he or she loses face.
If a Chinese person deceives you, you lose face. If he or she is unable to deceive you, he or she loses face.
If a Chinese person accepts their mistake, they lose face. If you point out a Chinese’s mistake to them, they lose face.
This is why your Chinese partner will never tell you they have come across some problems or issues, or that they have made a mistake. They are more likely to make up excuses, or blame you or anyone else but themselves. A Chinese person would rather die than admit they were wrong.
First of all, it is worth reading «The Art of War» and «The Thirty-Six Stratagems».
When negotiating with Chinese suppliers, remember this: they will never see you as an equal; you will never be one of them; they will always be thinking of ways to profit at your expense.
First of all, it is worth reading «The Art of War» and «The Thirty-Six Stratagems
