Unusual Chinese Connections (a.k.a. Guanxi) Artwork

China Myth Podcast

China Myth Podcast is a self-produced immersion experience of my journey through the fascinating and misunderstood dilemmas of Chinese business culture - a reaction, a behavior, even a suggestion - and asks whether I could have achieved a better outcome with a different attitude, mindset, and approach. Because sometimes, learning how to listen is a lost art of communication.

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China Myth Podcast

Unusual Chinese Connections (a.k.a. Guanxi)

September 18, 2024 • Gene Hsu

Has the nature of Guanxi changed in the post-COVID era of doing business in China?

Thirteen years ago, my personal driver in Shanghai invited my wife and me to a lavish, relatively speaking, dinner party to celebrate my birthday with his relatives. This dinner celebration is unusual for any Western leader assigned a driver in China because these drivers usually lack the Guanxi or cultural incentive to suggest such a gesture to their clients. In the Chinese hierarchical system, the higher-level person usually organizes and pays for these occasions.

Why did my driver, XiaoHe (小何), insist on this overture, and what were the reciprocal personal benefits, referred to 利益 (Lìyì), in Chinese?

#ChinaBusiness #ChineseCulture #Covid19 #Psychology #Communications #China #CCP #USChina #Tradewar #Geopolitics

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