Connecting with China: Business Success through Mutual Benefit and Respect

CONTEXT

In today’s world, there are few of us who do not seek to better understand the mysterious and apparently inscrutable force that is contemporary China. The powerful appetite that we hold for China is not really for the facts and figures or for the details of the economic ascendancy of this nation, inspiring though this is. Increasingly, it is a desire to know China from a place which will permit real contacts, exchange, relationship and understanding which we crave.

 

This is a wonderful shift and it parallels the change China has made. With President Hu Jintao ’s¹ recent ideal of a ‘Harmonious Society’, China too has committed to walking the journey towards real empathy, understanding and meaningful relationships with the West.

 

You are about to make that journey successfully where many others have failed. Why? Because you will make it from a relationship base which makes it possible to understand, bond with and know this race.

 

The premise of this book is that so much of what is considered vital in the Chinese order of things runs on relationships and emotion.

Traditionally received wisdom from Confucius and the Bing Fa texts has been used by Westerners as a useful point of entry into understanding the psyche and relationships of China and, indeed, for shedding light on the Chinese emotional profile - the real route to building and maintaining relationships.

 

Understanding the forces that shape Chinese strategic thinking, however, will only partially assist us in progressing ...