The Chinese Challenge

BRIC is an economical term used to refer to the combination of 4 emerging countries/ markets: Brazil, Russia, India, and China. By the year 2050 it is estimated that BRIC economies will most likely eclipse some of the wealthiest economies in the world. China is the world's fourth largest economy and one of the major and most interesting challenges they are currently facing is how to transition to capitalism and maintain the peasantry, a pillar in their economic growth.

One of the first tasks I was given as a consultant for a large company that wanted to establish a presence in China was to create a manual of idiosyncrasies for this country including the dos and don’ts. Same as a handshake in the US, in China, part of the business etiquette is exchanging business cards. When someone receives a business card, he must hold it with both hands and pay close attention while reading it.

However, when doing business internationally, common sense plays a very important role: if you are not acquainted with the local etiquette, just treat others with respect and think how you would like to be treated.