Succeeding at the Chinese Business Banquet

Unless you are a veteran of Chinese business dinners and an expert on local society and culture there will almost certainly be the occasional misunderstanding. Some can be planned for and avoided whereas others will naturally be unforeseen.

Status and respect for example, is always key in China. It is important to understand on every level and can range from addressing someone by their organisational position such as ‘director’ to an informal situation ‘lao’where you acknowledge their older age as a sign of their wisdom. It is important to plan for this when conducting business in China.

Seating arrangements, entrances and introductions can all have strict hierarchical protocols when meeting with potential Chinese business contacts and partners. I recently joined up with an English delegation to a city in Shandong Province and here, the formalities of Chinese culture and etiquette were on full display. There is a vast literature on the subject and it is well worth dipping into if you aim to impress your Chinese hosts with your regard for their culture. They will appreciate you better for it. Various books and websites offer information and guidance on many of these rules and procedures, so read up and when you attend a formal event in China observe and take in as much as you can – it will probably consolidate and help you realise exactly what you know of Chinese social form e.g. the most important person entering the room first and the structure and purpose of the seating plan arrangements.

Additionally, if you are holding an event for Chinese guests, seek advice from Chinese friends or even members of the guest’s company e.g. their secretary or lower ranked staff on what the correct procedures are and how people should be seated and addressed. It will be viewed as a positive and considerate initiative on your part rather than a sign that you need help. After all guests will be more appreciative and impressed if you get things right with help rather than get things wrong without it.

Still, no matter how well you plan, mis- understandings can and will crop up. It might be small such as words getting lost in translation, or larger, like an inappropriate gift. How you react to these problems can determine the degree of success you have when meeting potential business partners.

The important thing is to see these errors as hiccoughs - all part and parcel of the learning experience. The opposites you dine with will certainly do so. By way of an example, at one of the formal banquets I attended a lady from the English delegation attempted to give a business card to someone, unfortunately her card had a picture of an owl on it – sometimes associated with death in China. This may be deemed a fairly serious faux pas, but the lady wasn’t to know and the Chinese guests recognised this. Furthermore, she didn’t let this issue bother her, she moved on and got actively involved in communicating and building friendships with the Chinese host – despite neither sharing common language. She enjoyed the wines and baijiu (alcohol) and made efforts to toast and show respect to the hosts and it showed that she was clearly enjoying herself. The Chinese thought this was admirable, it demonstrated that their efforts to impress and entertain were obviously being appreciated. The earlier misunderstanding had been forgotten as soon as it had happened and at the end of the banquet the women simply wrote her business contacts details down and passed them on this way.

Her success was largely down to her endeavours to communicate. Any effort, no matter how clumsy it may seem, is better than an awkward silence and if you are able to speak a modest amount of Chinese – then do so! The locals know and revel in the fact that their language is difficult – as a foreigner you are not expected to be able to converse in it. Instead, try to display (as long as it is relevant) what you know about culture, history and other things related to China. It shows you are interested in the country and frankly I find the reception given to this type of knowledge is often better than being able to speak Mandarin. It helps to convey you as someone who is trying to understand China and its complex history not just making small talk and passing the time. Fortunately, this type of knowledge is a lot easier to acquire and learn than language fluency.

Clearly, as in any stage of business, planning and anticipation can go a long way to establishing relationships. Research into areas that you can tackle and learn such formal etiquette and China knowledge will impress Chinese counterparts. Although words or actions in such events can be misconstrued, such as the misplaced business card demonstrated, goodwill will allow errors to be quickly dismissed. Even when events such as business banquets do have hierarchical protocols, providing the positive intentions that are crucial for business success in China are present, formality can often have a charming way of being ‘adapted to suit the occasion.’