Business Etiquette
    persistence. Unflappable Doing business in Shanghai , at least on the formal level, requires considerable patience andgood and cheerful manners help save face for business clients and public displays of anger must be avoided. Nevertheless, protracted negotiations can often be wound up neatly during a business banquet or an after-hours KTV (karaoke) session these are the settings where China's legendary guanxi (connections) are exercised. Public business is very formal, with executives wearing suits and exchanging business cards (given with both hands), bows and handshakes. Women should avoid wearing high heels or short sleeved blouses. Both men and women should dress in neutral colours and avoid using large hand gestures, personal contact and pointing. Gifts often help open initial contacts, although these should never be open to misinterpretation as bribes. In many companies, especially larger and older ones, a Party appointee, who has an honorary or nominal senior post in the company, will preside at the first sessions, then leave the real business to the operational management.


    Seniors are usually granted respect, at least to their faces. Likewise, political change may have emancipated women in China before the law, but in business circles men still take precedence. Businesswomen are expected to dress and behave soberly, while businessmen in Shanghai should be prepared for evenings in hostess bars with clients and associates. Foreigners are usually treated with cautious respect, although outsiders should not always expect a Japanese-style enthusiasm for foreign languages and culture mainland Chinese have a strong pride in their own language and traditions. Public manners in eating and drinking can seem hugely lax to foreigners Shanghainese spit, belch and pick their teeth quite openly. However, visitors are advised to tolerate but not emulate this. After-hours drinking sessions to seal negotiations and cement relations are common.

Greeting Someone in Shanghai

    It is a good idea to take a large quantity of business cards with you, and it is wise to have the inscription translated into Chinese and printed on the reverse side of the card. When you are introduced to a local, take out your card, bow slightly and present it with both hands. They will probably reciprocate in a similar manner, most likely holding their card anglicized version uppermost. At this point it is considered good manners to pass a polite comment on the appearance of the other's card whilst tucking it carefully within the confines of your wallet. Don't get flustered if, when meeting a group of people, they start clapping when you arrive. This is simply a form of greeting and you may respond by clapping also.

Shanghai Business Hours and Banking

    In China, banks, offices and government departments are open Monday to Saturday. Most will open for business at around 08:30 , close for lunch from 12:00 to 14:00 and reopen until around 17:30 . Many branches of the Bank of China open on Sunday morning but some will close on Wednesday afternoon.