Respect Of Authority

In Asian culture, particular in Chinese culture, when people are in dispute, people tend to ask and look to the most senior person to decide who is right. To obey authority and respect elders are seen as virtues in China. To understand more on the respect of authority, we need to start with Confucius (552-479BC). Confucius was mainly interested in how to bring order and harmony in society. He believed that mankind would be in harmony and peace with the universe if everyone understood their rank in society and were taught the proper behaviors of their rank. He also believed that the social order was threatened whenever people failed to act according to their prescribed roles. Though modern China has moved past these narrowly defined roles, the Chinese today are still used to thinking in terms of hierarchy. They tend to respect hierarchy and differences in status much more than Westerners, who tend to be more egalitarian and open towards strangers.


In China , Chinese always generally introduce their guest using their full titles and also the name of their workplace or political parties. For example , Doctor Lee , CEO of China Public Bank or Deng Xiao Ping, Chairman of the Central Advisory Commision of the Communist Party. People like to address their guests and themselves by their full title because they want to make sure everyone know their rank and status of themselves in the society. Many people are afraid of high ranking people because in China, high ranking people have more power than a normal civilians. In China, high ranking officials or people who is powerful in terms of monetary and status are normally hated by normal civilians. This is because in the recent years, many of these powerful peole have misused their power and bully the poor and weak. The issue of corruptions among the authoritative people also makes the poor and weak go against them. This shows that they have no respect to the authority because of the individual themselves. also government official in China, but there are a lot parvenu that looks down on them and ignore them even though the official are more powerful than them.Besides that , poor people also looks down on them because they are taking and accepting corruption.

System Of Values

Values define what is right or wrong for an individual, a group of people and the people living in certain places. Individual value system helps to make decisions in life. It forms the foundation of each person characters. In a given situation, everyone behave in a particular manner depending on their value system. China rise as a global leader has highlighted how the Chinese traditional culture influences modern Chinese foreign policy. The core value of Chinese traditional culture is the concept of harmony (Hexie, 和谐). The pursuit of Hexie is about preserving synchronization between man and nature, between human beings and society, between people, and between the mind and soul. In China, they value system that emphasizes that people should be truthful, generous, sincere, kind hearted and selfless by nature. They are different than the Western culture. Western culture values competition and struggle, which differs from the Chinese concept of harmony. Chinese are keen to use the words Jen and Yi which means love and friendship and righteousness. These two are qualities that should be in every human being to maintain a life full of love and peace. They also emphasize on relationship as it is important in everything we do. In the business element, it helps to minimize the risk, frustration and disappointments and ensuring a successful business. Chinese prefer to deal with trustworthy and familiar people.

Status & Wealth

In the year 1990, China was a poor country. The unemployment rate was high and many people search for jobs regardless of its pay and nature of the work. In 2013, China becomes a rich, strong and modern country. Their economy has increased and has higher technology. Employment is regarded not merely as a means by which citizens can earn a living but equally importantly as a guarantee of social stability and control. Despite rapid development and severe fluctuations in the labour market, China's unemployment rate has remained suspiciously stable. As people wealth increase, their status also increased and quality of living also increases. In China, people with more money are higher status and the poor must respect them and give them priority first. This is a common practice in China where the rich are powerful and the poor are weak. As this continues, corruption also increase in the country.

Manners Conducted During A Business

In China, bowing and nodding to your host is the most common greeting however a handshake is only offered when the Chinese offer their hands first. Bowing is generally reserved as a sign of respect for elders and ancestor. Introductions are formal so we must greet them by saying “Ni Hao” means Hello and use their formal title and introduce us from the oldest to the youngest. The clapping of hands is a sign of welcome when meeting a crowd of Chinese, the same is also expected in return. As time is always limited, we must make an appointment and give our contact’s information before meeting them. This is a sign of respect and sincerity to have a good business relationship with them.

When we are exchanging card, we must use both of our hands to receive/give the card. To lead a meeting with the Chinese, it is best that a person who is in higher rank such as a manager contact the other party as Chinese people values rank and status. When we are speaking to them, it’s best to just go straight to the point. Chinese like most of the Asians people will do anything to save face and make guest happy even if it means misleading them. They rather tell you what they think you want to hear instead of the unpleasant truth so we must let the Chinese to understand that we want the truth and do not twist and turn the facts.

For the first meeting, we must present a small gift to them to be polite. Avoid giving anything in green or white colour because green is a symbol of cuckoldry and white is the symbol of death. Things such as clock and handkerchief  should also be avoided as it is auspicious to them. In terms of clothing, we cannot wear casual dress such as jeans for business meetings. We must dress formal and female’s staff should not wear too sexy or revealing clothes because Chinese’s businessman will think they are offensive to them and distracting.

As the meeting ends, we must wait for the Chinese to leave first before we do. When the Chinese say farewell after a visit or meeting together, they simply go. It is considered appropriate to just give a quick bow or handshake and say “Zai Jian” means goodbye and “Xie Xie” means thank you.

Behavior - Formal And Informal Rules

Nowadays, most people pay a lot of attention to human behavior. What is behavior? Behavior is a response of an individual or a group of people to an action, environment, person or stimulus. Behavior of an individual is important when you have business in China. In China, business relationship can last longer if you have a good behavior and proper etiquette because it will show that you respect them and have good faith for cooperation. There are two rules for behavior. One of them is the formal rules. Formal rules are traditional, custom, official and normal. There are some examples of formal rules. In China, the family name comes first. In formal situation, people address each other by their title such as Manager Wong or Miss Lee. We do not use large hand movement because it may be distracting to our host. Winking and whistling are considered rude. Eye contact tends to be indirect. As a guest, we also must be punctual and try to avoid discussing business at meals. at home people often refer to each other by nicknames or terms of kinship for . Another rule is informal rules. Informal rules mean it is friendly and it is normally between friends and family. Examples of the informal rules are like referring to each other by nick names or terms of kinship for close non-relatives. A younger man often calls a man who is few years older than him "big brother" and someone who is considerably older "uncle." Their friends are often addressed as juniors and seniors even if they are just a few months younger or older. When a Chinese person asks someone their age, they are wondering how to address the person.

Concept Of Time

Time is a concept that its value and definition is perceived differently by everyone from culture to culture and person to person. There are two types of time perception. One is monochronic time and another is polychronic time. Monochronic time means time is the given and people are the variable while polychronic time means time is servant and tool of people. People who practice monochronic time will make sure to do one thing at a time and completed before starting something else, regardless of any circumstances. This type of people feel that time is gold and schedule is sacred. American is one of them. On another hand, people who practice polychronic time often multi-task, as required by circumstances. They feel that interruptions are life and deadlines are approximation. This type of people can easily be found in China. Most of the China's citizen tries to be punctual but as they often do several things at a time, it is always impossible to achieve. They are always late for meeting and appointments because they have bad time management. For example, a meeting starts at 8.00am but some of the employees only reach at 8.45am. The common excuse for them: there was a lot of traffic at that time. They could leave the house earlier to avoid the traffic but they always delay or postpone the activities because they are too busy doing other stuff and they do not have enough time to complete it. They seldom change this bad habit and let it be.

Introduction To China Culture

As one of the world’s oldest civilizations, China is proud of its many people, long and rich history, resplendent and unique culture. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a large geographical region in eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying greatly between provinces, cities, and even towns. Since the ancient times, China has been a multi-religion country. It is well known that Confucianism is an ethical and philosophical system, developed from Confucius thoughts and treated as a belief to educate common people and eventually became an indigenous religion and the soul of Chinese culture. It did not develop into a national belief but it makes the culture more tolerable to other religions that have been brought into the country in different dynasty even though it is popular among people and the guiding ideology for feudalism society. One of the religions that have been brought in is Taoism. Most of the people practice Taoism as it could be seen in their daily life as Taoism is inclined to simplicity in all things. People beliefs and feelings adapt to each season as they become one with nature, acting in synchronization with everything on earth, and appreciating human relationships.