Business Cards An Essential Part Of Operating In China

This is an excerpt from a series of iPhone applications created by the International Herald Tribune to explain the culture and etiquette of major business centers.

The exchange of business cards — what the Chinese refer to as name cards” — occurs the moment you meet someone, so a businessperson needs to be prepared. More information please click http://www.cxjcardfactory.com/.

Name cards are very important,” says Nicolas Touchard of the French wine company M. Chapoutier. People want to build their networks, so they are always handing out business cards at every occasion. They might not remember what you look like, but they will remember where they got your business card.”

Visitors should have their names and business details translated and printed on the reverse side of their business cards as quickly as possible.

If you don't have a Chinese staff to help, where can you get the translation? I go to Berlitz,” Cynthia Lett of the Lett Group says. I've never got into trouble doing it that way.”

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You should consider whether you want to use a phonetic rendering of your name, which is a common choice, or something more descriptive, a gesture that would be appreciated by the Chinese but could be risky. (For example, you need to be very sure of the word's meaning and connotations in both Mandarin and Cantonese.)

Yet a poetic choice of name can be a good conversation starter. My Chinese name means someone who never gives up,” Mr. Touchard says. People are always surprised. They say, ‘Why did you choose this name?' Then you can talk.”

Also, Ms. Lett recommends taking a look at your title. If you're an assistant vice president, for example, they don't know what that person is responsible for. You need to look at your position and match it with something that would be understandable to their culture, so they know where you are in the hierarchy.”

And while Hong Kong still uses Cantonese, rendered in traditional Chinese characters, most businesspeople agree that no one will be surprised or offended if you have your cards done in Mandarin and the simplified characters used on the mainland.

Once the translation is set, where can you get a quick print job? Large cities have print shops, and any five-star or four-star hotel will be able to assist you,” says the author Jack Leblanc. The Chinese can be very fast in offering services. If you would like a name card in Europe, it would take you one week. Here, an hour later you can have a box of name cards.”

A name card is presented with both hands, with the translation facing toward the recipient. A card is also accepted with both hands, and the receiver should look at the name for at least a quick second before returning to the conversation.

While the exchange may sound a bit ritualized, an improper presentation can create a disaster. A Hong Kong-based businessman describes how some representatives of his company's new U.S. owner flipped their cards across a meeting table, as if they were dealing a poker game. Local employees had been worried about the meeting anyway; after the incident, one worker became so upset that she had to go home for the day.

For your own comfort, have your name cards in an accessible spot. Fumbling through a handbag for a business card case that just won't open can turn an introduction into an embarrassing ordeal.

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Manners

In the West, says Ms. Lett of the Lett Group, we respect Type A personalities. Get it done, get the deal.” But the Chinese have no respect for that whatsoever. They're looking for someone who can go the long run, who they like.”

Tom Doctoroff of the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency says: I think everything needs to be turned from a declaration to a question at the beginning” of a business discussion. An American who expresses a point of view very, very directly is going to alienate. If you're just doing all the talking and appear like an IBM — international big mouth — you're going to be very alienating.”

And when dealing with your Chinese counterparts, it is wise to take into account their age. You can't have a one-size-fits-all approach,” says the broadcaster Eric Olander.

Chinese who are 40 and older have gone through some very traumatic historic periods,” he says. That changes their approach” to business, to life itself.

And the generation born after 1980 — they are a part of the ‘Little Emperor' generation born after the One Child policy kicked in and China boomed and grew economically.”

Mr. Olander likens them to the Millennials,” young Westerners who have a sense of entitlement. Dealing with them often requires a lot more patience,” he says. They have a sense that they deserve a lot, because they've always been given a lot.”