First, Chinese tend to have business negotiation in a rather indirect manner,as opposed to a direct manner of American businessmen. Chinese take time to see whether their prospective business contacts are really reliable as human beings, for example, by inviting them to a party and socializing with them. In contrast, Americans act with "get-down-to-business-first" mentality.
Second, the decision-making process of Chinese companies is considered to be very slow and time-consuming. This is because most Chinese companies have the bottom-up decision-making system which involves many people in the decision-making, as opposed to the American companies which usually operate with quick decisions made by the top management.
I hope American businessmen will understand these differences in business practices and adjust to the Chinese way of business.
Notes:
way of business: 经商之道
indirect:婉转的
as opposed to :相对于
prospective business partners (contacts):将来的交易对象
socialize:交际
in contrast :相对地
decision-making:决策
time-consuming:耗时
