“Is it legal, is it graft, bribery etc?” to the more belligerent;

“I’ve already paid a fair price, why do I need to do anything else?”

Ok, let’s look at it first.

It is actually called “Guanxi”[ gwanshee] and is strongly entrenched in Confucianism,

an inherent part of Chinese culture,  part of daily life that Chinese

take for granted.

However being a part of another culture doesn’t mean we cannot relate to it.

We have an underlying theme in expressions such as;

You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours,

Money talks,

It’s not what you know, it's who you know.

Although not strong in our interpersonal culture, is a form of “currency” in China.

I will try to explain with a simple example of “Guanxi”

It’s a grey rainy day as you pull into the office car park.

Monday morning, running  late. 

You grab your case, lock the car, dash to the office.

A busy day, finishing later than most colleagues.

In you car, dusk, showery, turn the ignition, “chunk”

Lifting the bonnet, you peer in, you are a wiz with computers but know nothing

about motors, but you notice a dull orange glow on your trousers and realise you left the

headlights on all day.

One of your colleagues drives past, winds down the window and asks ;

”What’s the matter.?”

You explain; flat battery.

“No worries.” she says, “My husband has jumper leads in his car, I’ll call him.”

 20 minutes later he arrives, in a few moments your motor is running.

Ok, now a “relationship” has been established.

You owe him a favour.

Now of course, it isn’t really that cynical or calculated, as humans we, generally, like to

help each other.

This is a tenet also in  Confucianism

Back to the scene.

Noticing he has a computer on the back seat you ask if he has just bought it.

He replies it has stopped and  is on the way to the repair shop.

You know computers backwards, so you offer to help repair it, after all, he just saved

you a long wet walk.

The score is even.

That is something like Quanxi, a social currency that one uses to trade to get help.

Confucianism, without getting technical teaches society is a whole, holistic, and we

 work together to achieve a common aim.

Ok, much of that has been lost in today’s modern me me me selfish China but Guanxi

is still like a strong thread which holds the fabric of society together.

In many western cultures we too seem to have lost this "holistic" approach and are

more individualistic or competitive.

I did have problems trying to succinctly.explain this in an actual situation in China,

Then 3 months ago the idea hit me.

Well actually it was a bike that hit me as I was crossing the road, breaking my pelvis and hip,

landing me in hospital for 6 weeks.

So let's follow my progress from the moment the ambulance arrives, and see how

Guanxi was used.

The ambulance took me to the nearest hospital, a city unit, ok for small things but ill equipped

to handle emergencies as the first round of x-rays and tests showed mine to be, or so

they said.

They wanted to transfer me to a larger hospital  set up to handle “foreigners” who by

and large are still viewed as walking banks,still holding Eurocentric ideas about superior heakth services

back home, paranoid and foolish enough to pay over the odds.

This was also the most expensive  in Beijing,  by “trading” me to them, the local hospital

was establishing “Guanxi” in that they were now “owed” a favour from the big hospital.

Not being totally sure of the hospitals motives, or diagnosis, I called friend who was a nurse.

Luckily, she was a friend of the hospital matron, who confirmed my injuries, but denied they

could not perform the operation.

She promised to talk to management, who finally admitted it was a tricky job and didn’t want

it to go wrong on a “foreigner’, not good PR!

Ok, I am in marketing so I can relate to that.

My friend had used her connections with the head nurse to get information, [sometimes a costly 

and secretive item in China] and I had used my “relationships” to get what i wanted to know.

However, I now needed to find a hospital that could and would help me, without charging

the proverbial.

My friend called several who all declined, for various reasons.

We needed a relationship, and it came in the form of a previous landlord who was a doctor.

A call to him, yes, his hospital was a specialist in “bone treatment” he would speak to some

one and  use his relationship or “connections” to get a surgeon to work on me.

And so it came to pass, I ended up in a private ward of a specialsit bone hospital with one of

the city's best surgeons all at a reasonable price.

Now, it is important to note here that this hospital was one who earlier had refused me.

Guanxi or connections were at work like an invisible currency, and I was now in debt.

The following Monday was cleaning day, fresh sheets and ward inspections.

One of the senior sisters, not impressed with my clutter around my bed, proceeded to put it

all in my locker, presumably explaining I could ask for what I wanted.

This was looking like it might be a less than pleasant 6 or so weeks stay.

Later, as is the custom with all new patients, the head nurse dropped in,  exchanged a few words of

English, explaining to  my visitor  she was happy I was here because she loved English and wanted

to talk to me when I was stronger.

Hmmmmm, I could see an opportunity here.

Later that week I started to write some simple expressions and dialogue that nurses would

use, and gave it to one of the nurses to gve to her.

Every few days I would write another page and then the head nurse began to come and

check on me personally every morning.

I had developed a “relationship” and was in credit!

Sure enough as the week wore on the rules about my clutter were relaxed and I also enjoyed

other special favours. But it hasn’t quite ended.

A few weeks after I was settled into the hospital, my friend took the landlord to dinner and

gave him a small gift, now the scores were a little more even.

We can also contact him again if, God forbid, we need, and he can also feel free to ask

something of me at some future time.

Later my friend took the surgeon and  two other doctors who worked on me to dinner,

same reason.

When I can walk I will meet the nurses, spend  time helping them learn English and buy them

lunch as a "thank you."

I also have a "standing" [joke] invitation to join the surgeon in social activities when I am fit,

so I have now added another influential person to my list of friends who can call on me and on

whom I can also call.

This is strategic for my business as he is a ranking Communist Party Member and Wordperfect is

heavily involved  in the medical industry.

Are you following me? 

In other words,

               Quanxi is an investment in the future, you may not need it today, but

                 it could come  in handy  later, either directly to you, or as a form of

                "currency" when you trade it to somone else.

So I hope this goes some way to explain how “Relationships” or Connections” works on a

daily basis in China, clears up any misgivings you may have and maybe now you can see

more clearly how and why it also works in business dealings.

Unless you are secretly slipping huge amounts of US currency into a minister's or director's

bank account, mostly it is a harmless and accepted practice.

And, to be frank and realistic, if you are serious about doing business in China, then you need

to accept Guanxi as a part of  your way of life.

You can get by without it, but I would suggest you practice climbing My Everest in a Tee shirt

and sneakers as a warm up first.

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