Tricks of Trade in China

1. Good understanding of the Chinese culture
2. Make friend before doing actual business
3. Establish trust and confidence of your Chinese customers
4. Always deal with the right people in the organization. If you do not know, try to find out. It is very important, sometimes it is crucial, especially when dealing with state-owned enterprises.
5. Have a good picture of the background of the organization that you deal with, i.e., whether it is registered, its financial status etc. It might happen that the company you are dealing with is actually not officially registered;
6. Have a good understanding of the rules and laws for the trade business, and be well aware of the changes of government policies.

Helpful tips

1. Always remember the help and assistance or whatever offered by your Chinese customers and remember to do something back as a return;
   
2. Buy gifts. Gifts should be carefully chosen according to the ranks of the people whom you are to give; Labels can stay on the gift if it is an expensive one;
   
3. Catch the inner or the real meaning of what people say. For example, when they say "Don't trouble yourself" when you wish to offer something to them, they might mean differently;
   
4. Always call your Chinese partners by their ranks, e.g., Manager Wong, President Lee etc. It is a gesture of respect to the person;
   
5. People from northern China are very much different from the Southern Chinese, and cultures are different in many ways. You should be able to manage. For example, you have to drink white wine with your customers from north China at dinner, but it's not that necessary with people from south China;
   
6. Make one or two friends who work in the government or the customs or banks, you can get very useful tips as how to solve your problems in a zig-zag way, such as transportation and so on that you will come across during business transactions.