WHAT distinguishes the Chinese when they are across the negotiating table? Face? Guanxi ? These cliches are not succinct enough to sum up the characteristics of more than 1.2 billion people in a country with a long history and a vast mixture of cultures.
For Westerners doing business in China, negotiating with those from the Middle Kingdom can be a mind-boggling and time-consuming task.
Many rely on word of mouth from other foreigners, or simply their own experience of dealing with the Chinese.
Now a book about such experiences and survival tips is coming in handy for both new and experienced negotiators alike.
Negotiating China , published by Allen & Unwin, is seen as a compass to guide Westerners through the labyrinth around the negotiating tables in China.
The author, Carolyn Blackman, said the book was based on her experiences as a negotiator in China.
Blackman, now director of the International Business Centre at University of Ballarat in Australia, became the country's first Mandarin radio broadcaster in 1967. She made her first trip to China in 1978 and two years later began a 10-year stint negotiating with officials and businessmen to organise special interest tours in China.