Chinese Business Culture – What You Need to Know to Successfully Conduct Business

China’s culture and business practices differ significantly from those in Canada. As you start or expand your business in China, an understanding of Chinese business etiquette and culture will be crucial to your success. Knowing and practicing common customs will also help you relax, avoid embarrassment, and focus on the matters at hand on critical occasions.

As China becomes increasingly prevalent in global business and Canada continues to heighten its engagement with China, it is critical for Canadian executives to pay attention to Chinese business culture. This means going beyond the Chinese national cultural rituals and effectively preparing for initial meetings, follow-up meetings, negotiations and ongoing relationships. Canadian executives must be mindful of appropriately presenting themselves and their companies, the significance of building relationships and guanxi and they must appreciate national and regional cultural characteristics, institutional culture and the personal cultural of their counterparts.

HKCBA Ottawa invites you to join us for a practical and engaging workshop to better understand the significance of business culture issues in doing business in China. The objectives of the workshop are three – fold:

• To acquaint you with key characteristics of the Chinese business culture and how the culture may differ depending on the regions and nature of your counterparties.
• To illustrate how cultural factors may impact all aspects of doing business with China, from the 4Ps to conducting negotiations and managing human resources
• To present you with tactics and strategies for successfully navigating cultural issues with your Chinese counterparts

You will hear of international companies who have achieved success in bridging cultural issues, you will also hear of others who have committed major faux pas. Above all, you will gain insight into the sensitivity of cultural factors in concluding business in China.

Presented by the Hong Kong Canada Business Association (HKCBA) Ottawa Chapter in conjunction with Capital Confucius Institute at Carleton University