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Communication in China is an enormous topic for a complex nation and culture, particularly for companies doing business there. "Few subjects seem as vast and daunting [...] as China," as Rahul Jacob noted in the Financial Times ([7] Jacob, 2006). "The country has more than 30 provinces, some 650 cities, and of course that mesmerizing 1.3 billion people. [...] Marco Polo among others made errors and exaggerations in his narrative of China. Generations of westerners since have also been baffled by what holds this huge country together, coming to all kinds of contradictory conclusions." For any complex topic, it is only realistic to focus on a manageable part; but also to be mindful of the parable of the three blind men describing the elephant - the one who held the tail described the huge beast as like a rope.
Anecdotes about business communication in China are numerous. For instance, after building a relationship for several years with Chinese officials and partners, one executive of a Fortune 100 financial services company flew to China to open its new offices. On the flight was another American executive who revealed that his company had recently closed a plant, the workers had taken it over and they were holding their plant manager hostage. He was on his way to negotiate the manager's release.
Another executive of a $2 billion privately held company with a partnership in China was told on his arrival that there had been a serious accident in their manufacturing plant. Since the American company insisted that US OSHA standards be used at the plant, including hardhats and safety shoes and clothes, the worker involved was alive in the local hospital with severe head injuries. In another example, a multinational consulting firm decided at the last minute not to bid on the transportation system for the 2008 Olympics because it was "too risky" financially. And a European investment bank insisted on environmental sustainability assurances before underwriting a dam construction project in China. These experiences underscore the vital need for a company to have a communication strategy on entering the Chinese market. Box 1 [Figure omitted. See Article Image.]
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