Negotiating with Chinese: Success of initial meetings is the key

Purpose – Negotiating with the Chinese is an important topic in international business and cross-cultural management since China is playing an increasingly active role in doing business with the western countries. The purpose of this paper is to study initial meetings with the Chinese during business negotiation processes. In particular, it seeks to explore the processes of negotiation between the Chinese, Australian and American cultures. Design/methodology/approach – The discussion is based on authentic cases collected from meetings which took place in both China and Australia, and the negotiation cases are analysed in the theoretical framework based on cross-cultural negotiation processes and intercultural dimensions. Findings – The findings indicate that success of initial meetings is an important key to determine success for business negotiations. Originality/value – The paper is of value through highlighting the fact that initial meetings with the Chinese can be seen as essential to negotiation since the Chinese tend to develop relationship or guanxi first before the actual negotiation takes place