China holds plenty of fantastic business opportunities, and if your business is willing to expand internationally, then you are lucky enough that you get a chance to discover china as a proud country full of rich traditions and multiple ethnic groups that are grappling with the reality of urbanizations, capitalism, and globalization. When you travel to China on business purposes you may find yourself negotiate and discuss business strategy,asit can bring you numerous business opportunities.
If you are planning your business trip to China, here are five tips that might help you and to make sure your journey is successful and enjoyable.
- Expect Flight Delays :
Be prepared to wait in the airport (or even on the plane) when flying from a Chinese airport. They may be the world’s most advanced buildings, but their management and services are backward. According to a report from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the worst offenders are Spring Airlines, Lucky Air, Shanghai Airlines, China Express Airlines and Chongqing Airlines. Spring Airlines has an average punctuality rating of only 56 percent, meaning almost half of their flights are delayed or canceled.
Being late to a meeting is not just considered incredibly insulting in Chinese culture, but also everywhere, make sure you make it to your appointments/meetings on time, no matter how long your flight is delayed.
- Bring a Translator/Interpreter :
You’ve come all the way to China to talk to a prospective business partner. You can speak their language neither they can speak yours. If you want to do business in China hustle free, use your interpreter because they deal with verbal communication and enhance communication by conveying information accurately from one language to another in different countries across the world, while translators deal with written communication.
- Bring Cash :
Almost nobody in China accepts personal checks. Even Chinese local banks do not offer personal checks, unusually large hotel chains and upscale restaurants now accept Visa and Mastercard, the most widely accepted card scheme is UnionPay, but you’ll also want to have the local currency, the renminbi (aka yuan) on hand for smaller shops and purchases. However, for the most part, when you are traveling in China for business purposes,you’ll need to pay with cash!
- Get All The Documentations ready :
Most people don’t think about an essential document until they need it; you can waste a lot of time and energy searching for things. You might even lose something. Before you leave, you need to make sure you have all the required documents. Get all of your travel documents in order. All of this can, and should, be done long before you leave. If you don’t have a travel wallet to store passport, ticket, foreign currency, etc. then think about investing in one.
- No tipping in China :
The Chinese do not tip, and you aren’t expected to pay tips in roadside eateries, snack stalls or quality Chinese restaurants even tipping taxi drivers or skycaps is also unnecessary. The printed amount is the final amount you need to pay because sometime the bill in quality Chinese restaurants may have already included about 5% – 15% service charge. Also, there is no sales tax on top of merchandise that you purchase.
