Cultures have a very significant impact on the way to make business. Chinese culture is belonging to Asian cultures, which are very peculiar and totally different from Western cultures. Wilson (2004) in one of his articles has stated that “culture is a popular explanatory concept frequently used to describe a company, a rationale for people’s behaviour, a guideline for action, a cause for condemnation or praise, or a quality that makes a company ‘what it is’”.

If a company is oriented toward the Chinese market, of course, the influence of Chinese culture will be significant. For example, culture can play a dramatic role in positioning new products or brand-building, or it may have an impact on consumers, on their preferences where to shop. Currently international companies are concerned with methods of attracting and satisfying Chinese customers. Managers should always keep in mind that Chinese culture can either track closely or have a knock-on effect on business and negotiating process. That is the problem.

To find a good solution and a good approach to Chinese customers foreign business partners have to know that Chinese consumers are different from their own culture. Chinese people value order and believe in their collectivistic culture. Also they are faithful to the cultural tradition of Confucianism which has a significant impact on their behaviour. However, currently there is a great influence of modernization, globalization and industrialization which put in question traditional Confucian values of Chinese consumers. Hence, the situation is changing rapidly and it is quite difficult to control it. The only way out of this endless circle is to monitor and analyze not the Chinese market and Chinese economy, but to analyze Chinese consumer behaviour from the anthropological point of view.

The good advice for managers could be to study Chinese culture in comparison with up-to-date anthropological monitoring. It is necessary to understand that quantitative studies (statistical data) are not a good base for creating different strategies oriented toward business at the Chinese market. Strategies based on qualitative studies will be very useful and beneficial for newcomers to the Chinese market due to the fact that the research based on qualitative methods purports the analysis and understanding of people’s behaviour. Only then foreign managers can state that they know Chinese market and Chinese consumers very well.

Guanxi is a Chinese word the means “relationships”, and is a central concept in the way Chinese do business. If you want to do business effectively in China you will need guanxi. Why is guanxi so important? A business person with guanxi has a wide network of contacts that he or she can call upon to get things done. This is especially important in China where the communist government has hands-on involvement in many aspects of business, including such critical areas as licensing and taxation. You don’t have to be doing business in China for very long before you will witness guanxi at work, be it with overcoming bureaucratic hurdles, expanding a business, or resolving issues with suppliers.

The rapidly growing Chinese economy has been producing thousands of new millionaires and a key attribute held by many of them is a strong network of contacts, and the ability to use these contacts effectively. A good example of this is Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing who used his guanxi to secure necessary permits for his real estate deals. It is important to note that guanxi is a reciprocal relationship — it works both ways. While you can impose upon your contacts to do favors for you, you will also be expected to do favors for them when necessary. There is an element of implied trust. Also note that guanxi is not strictly a business relationship. There is a personal element to it and it helps if the two parties genuinely like each other.

Fortunately, Chinese business people are very open to expanding their business networks and making new contacts. Unfortunately, guanxi cannot be developed over the telephone or by email. These relationships must be built face to face, often outside of business hours. Many good business relationships have been forged late in the evening in restaurants or karaoke bars. But perhaps the best place to forge these relationships is in business schools, particularly MBA programs.