Greetings

When meeting Chinese people for the first time it is customary to make eye contact, shake hands, and nod gently. Don’t get too carried away and start bowing like the Japanese. Chinese people
are way mellower than Japanese people.

Also, avoid getting too touchy, patting people on the back, hugging and carrying on like some do in the U.S. Just as in the West, most people state their name and say “Nice to
meet you.”
It would be good if you’d learn to speak some basic Chinese,
especially 你好 ni hao meaning “hello,” or better yet, use the more respectful 您好
nin hao.

You should also learn to say 我叫 __________ wo jiao __________ meaning “My name is __________.” And finish up with 很高兴认识你 hen gao xing ren shi ni meaning “Very
happy to meet you.”

When you first meet your Chinese counterparts, it may not be apparent who the true decision-makers are. The person you interact with most was likely assigned to you because they speak better English than anyone else at the company. It is possible they majored in English, but do not know much about the business, especially technical matters.

Pay attention to job titles, and other clues, such as the way your counterparts interact with each other. An old tradition is that the most senior member of the group enters the room last.

Dress, offices, cars also offer clues to a person’s status in China. The lists below shows commonly used titles you might encounter. Use this list to try to determine your counterpart’s status.

Common Job Titles in Business

厂长
chang zhang
factory manager or director

车间主人
che jian zhu ren
plant foreman

工程师
gong chen shi
engineer

主人
zhu ren
director

经理
jing li
manager

总
zong
chief


Common Job Titles in Government

主席
zhu xi
chairman of a committee

部长
bu zhang
minister

处长
chu zhang
director

副
Fu
deputy or vice

副总理
fu zong li
cadre, party official

科长
ke zhang
section head

省长
sheng zhang
governor

市长
shi zhang
mayor

总理
zong li
premier