Whereas the West and other cultures depend on the laws and contracts guiding their public and business life, the traditional Chinese rely on their sincerity in their interaction with other people either in private or business situations, thus interpersonal relationship based on trust is well developed in China.
As the saying goes “exchanging hearts between each other”, the Chinese will sincerely expose themselves to those whom they trust in personality. So a promise by mouth is kept as seriously as the written contract.
The reason that the Chinese have well developed interpersonal relations can be explained from traditional lifestyle. China used to be an agrarian society, and the majority of its people were farmers, who lived a settled life.
This static situation helped to develop close personal relationships, especially among the family clan or those living in the same village. So it is natural that they prefer to trust those they know rather than the intangible rigid rules and laws.
Their preference to put trust in individuals rather than in institutions and laws will make it difficult for foreigners to do business with them and for them to deal effectively with foreign corporations.
Editor: Wen Yi
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