The Influence of Cultural Differences on
Sino-US Business Negotiations
Abstract: After entering into the World Trade Organization, China has established many economic relations with other nations, meanwhile, business contacts among nations get increasingly close, which has brought more and more opportunities to do business. US, serve as the biggest economic country, is our main trade partner. However, the huge cultural differences between the two countries may give rise to potential cultural conflicts and unnecessary misunderstandings. Thus, in order to negotiate effectively, negotiators should have a good understanding of culture and cultural differences. More importantly, they should know how negotiation is affected by culture. In doing so, negotiators can predict the process and adjust strategies in order to reach a satisfactory agreement. The thesis presents an in-depth analysis of the cultural difference in the process of business negotiation. It then put forward some tentative suggestions and strategies for successful negotiations.
Key Words: cultural differences; Sino-US business negotiations; influence
文化差异对中美商务谈判的影响
摘 要：中国加入世界贸易组织以后，与世界的融合越来越密切，对外贸易往来也与日俱增.美国,作为世界上最大的经济实体,是我国最大的贸易伙伴。两国之间经济与文化往来的日趋频繁使两国之间的商务谈判也随着增多。然而，由于中美两国存在着巨大的文化差异，因而两国的谈判者之间很可能出现文化冲突，甚至是不必要的误解。因此，要想取得有效的谈判，谈判者不仅要了解对方的文化及与己的文化差异，更重要的是应该了解文化因素如何影响谈判。这样，有助于谈判者预见谈判的进程，及时调整谈判策略，最终达成圆满的协议。本文通过研究中美两国存在的文化差异，进而分析了文化差异在商务谈判中的具体体现，提出了进行有效沟通的策略和技巧。
关键词： 文化差异；中美商务谈判；影响
CONTENTS
1. Culture and Business Negotiations 5
1.1 Culture 5
1.1.1 What is Culture? 5
1.1.2 The characteristics of culture 5
1.2 Business Negotiations. 6
1.2.1 What is Business Negotiations? 6
1.2.2 General Process of Negotiations 6
2. Core Values of Chinese Culture 7
2.1 High Context 7
2.2 Collectivism 7
3. Core Values of US culture 8
3.1 Low Context 8
3.2 Individualism 8
4. The Influence of Cultural Difference on Sino-US Negotiations 9
4.1 The member of Negotiation Team 9
4.2 Forms of Agreement 10
4.3 Pace of Negotiation Process 12
5. How to reach a desired agreement? 13
5.1 Awareness of cultural difference 13
5.2 Try to be well prepared 14
5.3 Improving communication competence 14
5.4 Be patient 16
6. Conclusion 17
Bibliography 20
