Grasp China

Grasp China is a comprehensive guidebook for business professionals and company executives to become “China Experts” in a very short period of time. When working or conducting business in China, there are so many critical but untold cultural and business secrets that are never written down even by local Chinese. For instance, do you know that you should not accept business dinner invitation easily because it signals a commitment? Are you curious why your local partner refuses to hire people from certain provinces in China? The four sections in the book cover all the critical aspects business travellers and expats must know before they land in the country. The first section focuses on the key notion of “China is not one China” through the lens of geography, city tier classification, and income disparity. Section two covers common and up-to-date social topics popular amongst the locals, and can be used as an ice breaker. Some of the topics are real estate prices, common regional stereotypes, China mobile internet, etc. Section three goes deeper into the nuances of the Chinese business world: unspoken business rules, dining and drinking etiquette, gifting, etc. Section four is a survival guide providing tips on traveling and living in China. To make the book more interesting as an engaging read on your flight to China, and at the same time avoid the common mistakes in other China books of being too abstract and non-practical, the author used many real-life case studies from her years of professional experience and networking on the ground to illustrate the different aspects of today’s business world and people’s daily lives in China. These real-life examples help explain the different aspects of Chinese culture in a straightforward way, making the book really easy and fun to read, allowing the readers to quickly “internalize” the materials. “China is a big country with a lot of complexities in culture, customs, traditions, and habits. Most people found it very challenging to learn how to do business or develop a professional relationship. It is admirable that Christine was able to crystallize the crucial insights and lessons in simple and yet penetrating forms. The personal experiences and stories added so much color. The book is a must-read for people without much exposure to China, but even for veterans, I think you will learn a lot of new perspectives and gain new insights from reading the book.” - Professor Hau Lee, Stanford Graduate School of Business "Christine has provided simple but useful information for anyone involved in China. A good primer." - Achal Agarwal, President, Kimberly-Clark Asia Pacific “Chinese mobile internet is in many ways leadings the world trend, and affecting the daily lives of over a billion people, especially the younger generations. In Grasp China, Christine articulated this unique landscape through vivid examples to give perspective visitors a practical guide of this exciting digital world.” - Rui Yu, CEO of Yihaodian (Largest online grocer in China)

Do you want to learn critical secrets to succeed in China's business world? For example, did you know that accepting an invitation to lunch versus dinner signals different levels of business commitment? To show respect at a formal business meeting, it is imperative to know the titles of the attendees, and bring colleagues of the same rankings. GRASP CHINA reveals these critical but untold cultural and business secrets so as to avoid simple mistakes when you conduct business with locals. GRASP CHINA is your all-in-one guidebook that covers critical details business travellers and expats must know: from up-to-date social topics, daily lives of the Chinese people, unspoken business rules, to working with different types of Chinese organisations. There are 4 sections in GRASP CHINA: First section focuses on the key notion of "China is not one China" through the lens of geography, city tier classification, and income disparity. Section two covers common and up-to-date social topics popular amongst the locals, and can be used as an ice breaker. Some of the topics are real estate prices, common regional stereotypes, China mobile internet, etc. Section three goes deeper into the nuances of the Chinese business world: unspoken business rules, dining and drinking etiquette, gifting, etc. Section four is a practical survival guide providing tips on traveling and living in China. To make the book more interesting as an engaging read on your flight to China, and at the same time avoid the common mistakes in other China books of being too abstract and non-practical, the author used many real-life case studies from her years of professional experience and networking on the ground to illustrate the different aspects of today's business world and people's daily lives in China. These real-life examples help explain the different aspects of Chinese culture in a straightforward way, making the book really easy and fun to read, allowing the readers to quickly "internalize" the materials. "China is a big country with a lot of complexities in culture, customs, traditions, and habits. Most people found it very challenging to learn how to do business or develop a professional relationship. It is admirable that Christine was able to crystallize the crucial insights and lessons in simple and yet penetrating forms. The personal experiences and stories added so much color. The book is a must-read for people without much exposure to China, but even for veterans, I think you will learn a lot of new perspectives and gain new insights from reading the book." - Professor Hau Lee, Stanford Graduate School of Business "Christine has provided simple but useful information for anyone involved in China. A good primer." - Achal Agarwal, President, Kimberly-Clark Asia Pacific "Chinese mobile internet is in many ways leadings the world trend, and affecting the daily lives of over a billion people, especially the younger generations. In Grasp China, Christine articulated this unique landscape through vivid examples to give perspective visitors a practical guide of this exciting digital world." - Rui Yu, CEO of Yihaodian (Largest online grocer in China) "As the title suggests, the book helps readers like myself understand China efficiently and systematically, making it literally a shortcut to 'grasp' China. So whether you're coming to China for business, education or investment purposes, this book will undoubtedly be your perfect guide and entourage." - Professor Huang Yu, Dean of School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University "I have worked extensively in China over the past 20 years, but still found many interesting and useful insights in Christine's book, richer and more 'on-the-ground' than other guides." - Torsten Stocker, China COO, Thakral Corporation

This book analyses China’s multidimensional rise in the context of the international political economy, drawing on Susan Strange’s concept of "structural power." Examining the sources of Chinese power along with its geopolitical, economic, and cultural reflections, the authors consider how China’s rise is linked with the incremental process of multipolarization in world politics. Providing a systematic, analytical, and empirically rich account of China's surge in the international political economy, this study will appeal to scholars, policy-makers, and students with interests in China studies, international political economy, and international relations.

This book offers a comprehensive review of the Communist Party of China's approach to diplomacy, through an extensive evaluation of the major practices and theories behind the Party's diplomacy, with its main achievements in its 90 years of diplomacy highlighted. It delves into the views held by the Communist Party of China on the changing times, the international system, national interests, and developments in China's diplomacy. Other topics covered at length include China's traditional and non-traditional diplomatic practices as well as basic characteristics of the Party's diplomacy. Few books have touched on the Communist Party of China's diplomatic history in detail. China's Diplomacy: Theory and Practice fills the gap by shedding insights on the Communist Party of China's global strategies and diplomatic planning, contributing to the building an international relations theory with Chinese characteristics. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of China's international relations from the forward-looking analyses on the Party's core role in leading China's diplomacy, and the theoretical explanations behind the practices. Contents:Leadership and Achievements of the CPC in China's Diplomacy (YANG Jiemian)Theory:The Concept of the Times and the Foreign Policy of China (YE Qing)The Concept of the International System and China's Foreign Policy (ZHANG Pei)The Concept of National Interests (LIU Zongyi)Scientific Outlook on Development and China's Diplomacy (ZHANG Haibing)Practice:Traditional Deployments of China's Diplomacy (ZHANG Chun)China's Diplomacy in Non-traditional Areas (YU Hongyuan)Party Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics (NIU Haibin)CPC Advancing with the Times: Future Prospects of China's Diplomacy (YANG Jiemian) Readership: Graduates, researchers, academics and professionals interested in China's diplomacy, international relations, and political science. Keywords:Theory;Politics;International Relations;China's Diplomacy;Communist Party of ChinaKey Features:Offers a comprehensive review of the Communist Party of China's diplomatic historySheds insights on the Party's global strategy and diplomatic planningExamines the Party's core role in leading China's diplomacy through theoretical, forward-looking analysesReviews: “This phenomenal volume provides distinctive viewpoints of the Communist Party of China on international politics and China's foreign relations. For those who are interested in how China's diplomacy has evolved from carrying out a ‘revolutionary line’ to pursuing the ‘path of peaceful development’, this is a must-read.” Wang Jisi Dean of the School of International Studies Peking University “This comprehensive volume seeks to lay out the ‘leadership and achievements of the Communist Party of China in China's diplomacy’. It takes a multifaceted approach, deeply rooted in the entire history of the CPC. For a foreign reader, perhaps this book's greatest value lies in its detailed explication of a Chinese perspective on the Party's diplomatic theories and practice over the past ninety years. As such, it provides many valuable insights.” Kenneth Lieberthal Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution “The book on China's foreign policies is a unique instrument not only to know but also to understand China. It is a guide for knowing the past and informing the future.” Mr Romano Prodi former President of the European Commission and Italy's former Prime Minister

The influence of the People's Republic of China on world affairs is increasingly keenly felt: in Asia, in Africa, in Latin America and in Europe and North America too. But what are the reasons for China's rise and how can the West adapt? Advantage China explores these essential questions and the political, economic and cultural factors behind the answers. From the economic and demographic pressures of China's domestic economy to the expanding economic influence of the Belt and Road Initiative, Jeremy Garlick looks beyond Western misperceptions of China's rise to argue for new approaches to the international political order, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"A highly personal, honest, funny and well-informed account of China's hyperactive effort to forget its past and reinvent its future."—The New York Times Book Review As one the first American students admitted to China after the communist revolution, John Pomfret was exposed to a country still emerging from the twin tragedies of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Crammed into a dorm room with seven Chinese men, Pomfret contended with all manner of cultural differences, from too-short beds and roommates intent on glimpsing a white man naked, to the need for cloak-and-dagger efforts to conceal his relationships with Chinese women. Amidst all that, he immersed himself in the remarkable lives of his classmates. Beginning with Pomfret's first day in China, Chinese Lessons takes us down the often torturous paths that brought together the Nanjing University History Class of 1982: Old Wu's father was killed during the Cultural Revolution for the crime of being an intellectual; Book Idiot Zhou labored in the fields for years rather than agree to a Party-arranged marriage; and Little Guan was forced to publicly denounce and humiliate her father. As Pomfret follows his classmates from childhood to adulthood, he examines the effect of China's transition from near-feudal communism to first-world capitalism. The result is an illuminating report from present-day China, and a moving portrait of its extraordinary people.

This title was first published in 1978: