Question: If you are a Swede living in China and working for a client who is entering China, what must you know and do to succeed?As the world develops in this 21st century, inter-country relations are bound to feel the friction. Especially with the improvements in the Technology scene, we must strive to accommodate to the country that we (or rather, the company) are entering.
So, depending on the length of my stay in China, the understandings of the largest growing country vary widely. For the sake of the discussion, let’s take it that I’ve been in China for awhile, and the understanding is roughly there.
Firstly, as we cross over the boundary to Web 2.0, we must note that in China, everything is still very much under the supervision of the government. We must not assume that because we have this internet freedom, everyone else in the world does. Only when we get over this misconception of it, can we truly enter China.
We’re used to being very open, and individualistic, but that does not apply in China, and roughly the Asian, culture. In the West, we are very individualistic, where decisions made are mainly close to the decision-maker. However, in the East, China, Japan, S. Korea, and the rest of S.E.A., the ideals are very different. Instead of being individualistic, the people are more linked to the community. There’s a broad herd mentality. When considering doing something, tradition teaches the people there to think of what that action does to the entire community, not just those in 1st-degree contact with them. This stretches to 2nd, 3rd-degree and beyond.
So what can we do about this?Language
Although English is the official international business language, countries in Asia have their dealings in their own Mother Tongue. This would mean, Korean in S. Korea, Japanese in Japan, Mandarin in China, so on and so forth. In Asia, only Singapore deals with a proficiency of English, but even then, a large percentage in the country converse and have their closer dealings in Mandarin, or their Mother Tongue. So then, what? It’d be best to pick up the communication language of Mandarin, to have business dealings in a familiar language of the Chinese government and businesses. Also, it would reduce the gap between your business and the country you’re dealing with. At the very least, have a middleman proficient in the language of dealings in the country you are entering; Mandarin, in this case.Appropriateness of Dealings
The ruling political party in China is the Communist Party of China (CPC). Given that China has been under the influence of democratic USA, it has opened up a lot (as compared to the past). However, it is still very much a closed community. The government has a very large hold on the people, and in accordance with the appropriateness of dealings, plenty of ideas/concepts are being censored, or kept away from the people. This communistic ‘everything censored’ culture has been deeply inbred amongst the people of China, and the government. Take Google for example. The current debates and controversy is because of Google not willing to mold its concepts to suit China’s tradition and political controls. What I would suggest is that, in order to succeed, understand China’s political, social concepts, and dealings. Only then could you stand a chance in surviving, amidst China’s tight governmental control over social dealings.Avenues
Now, we take a look at the different avenues that will allow you to understand more of China. In China, yes the internet-users have been growing plenty, but they are still very different from what we’ve been used to. Google is probably the best search engine and has the furthest reach throughout the rest of the world. But in China, it’s not exactly doing fantastic, all the controversy against the government, and unwilling to mold itself to suit the Chinese way of handling. To work around the Social Media scene in China, preconceptions of Youtube, Facebook, or Google, should be dropped. In China, these aren’t even trendy (or legal to say the least, whichever applies.). You should look into other avenues, such as Baidu, or 51.com. Facebook has been disallowed in China, and the alternatives to this would be Kaixin or Friendster. Baidu currently is the top of Social Networking Sites (SNS) with 110 million users. Falling shortly behind is 51.com with 100million users. Conclusion
In conclusion, I’d advise you to let go of the ideas of business dealings of the West, and really immerse yourself into the culture of dealings in China. Learn of their common language, Mandarin, and this would bring you a huge step up, as the Chinese will see your sincerity in wanting to have dealings with them, and will respect you more for molding yourself to their culture. Look at the appropriateness of your SNS usage, and also be careful with your media, to fit in to the ‘everything censored’ culture, to avoid everything of yours getting censored. Lastly, the avenues. Drop the avenues which you are familiar with, and learn about theirs. To reach your target audience, you must learn theirs. Or else what’s the point of having something great on Facebook when there’s no one there to see it? Frictions will always occur in international dealings, but you must do your best at minimizing it, to do your business successfully in another country, especially in China where the system of control is very sensitive.
