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The
Chinese like to use bureaucracy to their favour when they want to stall
negotiations. When
the Chinese are indeed interested, they will strive to establish bonds of trust
to advance the cause.
As
in western culture, inadvertent violation of local customs makes it easy to join
the ranks of those who have failed.
Basic rules of negotiating with Chinese are not
fundamentally different from a
western
approach:
Be
aware of idiosyncrasies such as lucky numbers which are rooted with '8' in
Cantonese, a homonym sounding very much like Prosperity which explain the
Chinese preference for that number in license plates, addresses, telephone
numbers. Three
sounds very much like Life representing longevity.
Avoid generally the number '4' because it sounds like Death; and certain
combinations with '5' are not always good.
Folkloric, yes, but beware nevertheless.
Red
is a good luck colour.
Johnny Walker Red
outsells other scotches. White is a colour associated with death.
Minimizing risk can be as simple as colour and good numbers.
I have something red with me at key events like closings and I am not
especially superstitious.
The
ancient principles of Feng Shui or
geomancy as it is sometimes referred to in the West are principles affecting
ways to place and arrange furniture, rooms and buildings.
Their placements in relation to the forces affect marketability and
liquidity of real estate.
The role of the geomancer should not be overlooked in negotiation with
architects, interior designers, lawyers, realtors, and chartered surveyors.
City Halls might take a more flexible approach in jurisdictions looking
to attract Chinese investment and several proactive actions can facilitate
dealmaking. Its
is a matter of priorities in the Chinese hierarchical structure.
Be
aware of issues where the Chinese might be judgmental in areas such as:
information, time management, risk analysis, networking and interpersonal
skills, technological and academic adaptiveness, consistent profitability and
growth, efficiency and language skills.
Their belief in their superior information in a short time frame allows
them to ‘test’ to determine competency in soliciting information,
particularly when searching for professional services.
Above
all, always allow room to negotiate and allow both parties ‘Face’ (more on
this subject later).
Hard line answers with no allowance for discussion seems to be a common
error with Westerners and almost always prevent negotiations from advancing.
Dialogue usually stops abruptly.
In
my own experience of dealing with Chinese, they are extremely well informed on
the West with technical research sourced in Asia - Internet is becoming
widespread. Processing
information with the fastest technology is the norm since many Chinese are now
educated in the west.
Witness at the boarding schools overseas,
that it’s often the Asian students who have the most technologically
advanced laptop computers and gadgets.
Typically, Asians will have more statistical information on technical
aspects than their western counterparts.
Add the Asian's requirement for ''a special deal”
(implied just for him to give “Face”).
Good
manners and etiquette are important in both eastern and western culture.
'Bow and Scrape' is an attitude appropriate in all cultures but
especially important given the structure and hierarchy of the East.
Respect for tradition is part of the ancient culture.
Hong Kong is a place of middle ground that is now taking on a Citizen of
the World approach to manners.
It is also a wonderful place to watch and learn the art of negotiations
with baptism by fire.
That is where I learned to quicken the pace and therefore operate more
efficiently.
An
effort to understand the Asian approach will ensure successful long-term
dealings with the Chinese and minimize risks and efforts.
- by ANDREA ENG
OTHER
ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC:
Lafite hits jackpot with packaging that targets
the Chinese
On December 27, 2010 a
robust market led by China and a lucky '8' have pushed up prices on the grand
cru by 590 per cent.
It was a smart move by Lafite to emboss the
Chinese character for '8' on its 2008 bottles, said George Tong, a prominent
Hong Kong businessman and wine collector. That fuelled a gold rush for fine
wine investors.
'The pronunciation of '8' in Chinese rhymes
with that of the word 'fortune',' explained Mr Tong. 'The Chinese are
superstitious and believe that having an '8' engraved on the bottle will bring
fortune and make a nice gift.'
Lafite is the rock star of fine wine in
China, the fastest growing wine market, and the 2008 packaging affirms China's
status.
'I thought it would be a nice way to say
'hello', and 'thank you' to the Chinese people,' said Mr Salin of his
packaging initiative.
The 2008 vintage, sold by the chateau as a
futures commodity in 2009 and shipping this February, is an unlikely
blockbuster.
Released when customers of Bordeaux were
hamstrung by frozen credit lines and collapsing sales, it received good but
not outstanding scores from critics and was sold nearly 50 per cent cheaper
than the weaker 2007 vintage.
Since then, the fine wine market has begun
to rebound and the stellar, exorbitantly priced 2009 vintage has overshadowed
the 2008.
In fact, the surge came quite unexpectedly
last October at Sotheby's Hong Kong auction of 2,000 bottles of Lafite direct
from the chateau's cellars.
The headline sale was a bottle of 1869
Lafite, estimated to be worth US$8,000 a bottle, but which sold for
US$233,972, making it the most expensive bottle of wine on the planet.
'It was surreal,' said Mr Salin, who was
already in shock from the second sale of the night. The 2008 vintage,
estimated to be worth US$666 a bottle, sold for US$2,860 per bottle.
Word had leaked out about the
Chinese-friendly packaging and speculation heated the market.
'We must have sold 600 cases of Lafite in
the 10 days after the auction with a 10-15 per cent uptick in the prices'
across the board since the auction, said Gary Boom, managing director of wine
merchant Bordeaux Index. They were all vintages of Lafite.
'The auction has had an interesting effect
on the market,' agreed Nick Pegna, managing director of Berry Bros & Rudd
in Hong Kong. 'There's been a raft of further speculation on the market.'
Another big winner has been Chateau Mouton
Rothschild. Prices on the Mouton 2008 vintage rose 60 per cent in the weeks
following the Lafite auction results, based on a rumour that the Baroness de
Rothschild had selected a Chinese artist to design its label.
On the Monday that the label by Beijing
artist Xu Lei was revealed, Bordeaux Index sold its entire stock of 2008
Mouton.
'As a Chinese, I am very proud because
someone in my country is designing the label for one of the best wines in the
world,' said George Tong, echoing the response of other Asian connoisseurs.
'I am absolutely delighted about the
success of my cousins at Lafite, ours and that of all the Bordeaux grand crus
in China,' said Baroness de Rothschild, who personally selects the artist and
label each year.
The Baroness nevertheless cautioned about
the dangers of exaggerated prices. To date, the 2008 Mouton has gained nearly
380 per cent in value since its release on futures in April 2009, according to
Joe Marchant, co-head of Bordeaux Index's Investment Group.
Demand is likely to remain high with the
addition of American wine lovers. -- AFP
2010 December 27
 
 
The day every Chinese woman wants to give
birth
Eights
are lucky – or so hordes of expectant mothers hope
Chinese doctors are bracing for a hectic day
on Aug. 8. It's an auspicious day, the long-awaited opening of the Beijing
Games, and a day when many of their patients will demand cesarean sections to
ensure a lucky birthday for their babies.
Hospitals in Beijing are expecting a
miniature baby boom on that August day as superstitious parents do everything
possible to ensure their infants are born on the opening day of the Olympics,
according to doctors quoted yesterday by the Beijing News, a leading newspaper
here.
Birth rates will peak on Aug. 8, and
hospitals are adding new beds and shortening their minimum stays to cope with
the anticipated surge.
The Olympic baby phenomenon shows the
continuing grip that numerology, superstition and other traditions have on
Chinese life. Even the precise timing of the opening ceremony, at 8:08 p.m. on
the eighth day of the eighth month of 2008, was chosen because eight is
considered lucky.
A growing number of Chinese women are choosing to
accept the medical risks of a cesarean section in order to have their babies
born on an auspicious day or year. On the advice of their feng shui masters,
some women are opting for cesareans up to two months earlier than their due date
in order to give birth on a lucky day.
It's among the leading reasons why China now has one
of the world's highest rates of C-sections, more than 10 times higher than the
rate in the 1970s and far above the 15 per cent rate thought reasonable by the
World Health Organization.
An astonishing 50 per cent of Chinese births are
C-sections, dramatically higher than the average of 5 per cent recorded from the
1950s to the 1970s, according to a report by the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
Thousands of Beijing women chose to have cesarean
sections in 2004 to ensure that their babies would be born in the Year of the
Monkey, considered a lucky year in the Chinese lunar calendar. The birth rate in
2004 was far higher than a typical year. One exhausted obstetrician in Beijing
said he did a dozen C-sections on a single night in the fall of 2004.
Surgery, of course, is not the only tactic in the
struggle for a lucky birthday. Last fall, Xinhua reported that many Chinese
couples were trying to conceive a baby in October so that they would have a
chance at an Olympic baby.
"If my wife is lucky enough to deliver an
'Olympic baby,' the luck means something more than family joy," one husband
told Xinhua.
To maximize their chances of conceiving a lucky baby,
he and his wife chose to "stay at home" instead of joining the crowds
of tourists during the October national holiday, the agency said.
If they cannot arrange a birth on Aug. 8, many Chinese
parents are still determined to have an "Olympic baby" by giving birth
some time this year, even if it requires artificial help. "More and more
couples are trying artificial insemination to make their Olympic-baby dream come
true," the Shanghai Evening News reported yesterday.
China is projecting 18 million births this year, which
is about 500,000 more than last year, according to media reports.
China already has more than 3,000 children who were
named Aoyun (Olympic) in the past few years, and another 4,000 children were
named after China's five official Olympic mascots.
But the expected Olympic baby boom will have a
negative side, beyond just the medical risks of cesarean sections.
Health experts are warning that the quality of medical
treatment will deteriorate during the baby boom because of equipment shortages
and overworked staff. And the new wave of children will face increased
competition in schools, universities and the labour market.
On the positive side, the Chinese media are predicting
a big increase in sales of baby products, milk powder and baby clothes this year.
- by Geoffrey York GLOBE
& MAIL 2008 February 27
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