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Posts: 97

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Q: What is guanxi?

12 years 50 weeks ago in  Culture - China

 
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Governor

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Connections, circles & relationships.

Kaiwen:

A bit like Venn Diagrams then? 

7 years 26 weeks ago
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Shining_brow:

Kaiwen's back too!!!

 

Hey!

7 years 26 weeks ago
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7 years 26 weeks ago
 
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Posts: 14

Governor

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Literally translated, “guanxi” means “relationships.” How to conduct these relationships is a central idea around Chinese life and business. In the business world, guanxi has commonly become known as the network of relationships that help people to get, keep, and refer jobs. These connections are built upon a complex system of family, friends, and favours and, like trust, guanxi can be difficult to build and easy to destroy.

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12 years 50 weeks ago
 
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I did something for you and now you owe me for life.

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12 years 38 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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relationships with strings

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9 years 31 weeks ago
 
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Governor

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"Guan Xi" means connections. People do that a lot in China.

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9 years 31 weeks ago
 
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Guanxi is a system of connections around which Chinese social and professional relations revolve, basically having the right connections (shaking the right hand, drinking with the right person, ...) will make your life easier.

 

For e.g. being the drinking buddy of the chief of the local police can save you from jailtime if you happen to kill someone.

 

Being friend with some local government official while running a company can give you access to business opportunities with the local government that would otherwise be locked away from you. Let's say that you own a car factory and the local government wants to buy 300 new cars for its employees, you could get an exclusive contract with them if you know the right person.

 

This is a dumb, dark-ages like system that irremediably leads to corruption and inequalities.

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9 years 31 weeks ago
 
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It's a nice fancy word for cronyism and nepotism rolled into one...

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9 years 31 weeks ago
 
Posts: 364

Governor

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It's corruption, nepotism and cronyism put into system and then excused as a cultural feature.

Edit: Sorry DrMonkey, didn't see your post even though it was made 4 hours before mine.

DrMonkey:

You are forgiven son, walk in peace (but with your pants on)

9 years 31 weeks ago
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iWolf:

Mr DrMonkey, you are a true humanitarian. I think Burak43 owes you eternal guanxi.

9 years 31 weeks ago
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9 years 31 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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The shackles that hold China back.

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9 years 31 weeks ago
 
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relationships, connections that with stings attached. I think guanxi is everywhere, especially in a company, seems like in chinese culture you have to work your ass off to build a good guanxi with your boss.

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9 years 31 weeks ago
 
Posts: 307

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Connections, circles & relationships.

Kaiwen:

A bit like Venn Diagrams then? 

7 years 26 weeks ago
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Shining_brow:

Kaiwen's back too!!!

 

Hey!

7 years 26 weeks ago
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7 years 26 weeks ago
 
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