By & Brandon Hughes, FAO Global Founder
Written: 6/04/2017
This is a great article for those who have Chinese clients, partners, or plan on doing business in China.
Most people assume business processes are the same in each country, but they can vary widely. In the U.S., most companies are integrating Microsoft Outlook with all business functions. Synchronizing the calendar function, read receipts, and invites is a common practice. However, many business in China may use older Microsoft Platforms and outdated software. Additionally, many servers and IP addresses from the U.S. may be blocked by Chinese firewall if the server is associated with a previously blocked website. As a semi-professional website developer in China, I have had multiple sites blocked simply because I didn’t have the right IP address associated with the site. Unfortunely, you never know which one will work, so paying for a dedicated server/IP address may be the way to go. This may affect your communication methods as well if your using a webmail service that has been flagged for any number of reasons. The best way to ensure communication is received is to validate, validate, validate. Using a local communication tool will help with continuity and mitigate the risk associated with communications through the People’s Republic of China Firewall.
Facebook, YouTube, Messenger, WhatsApp, etc may not be the communication medium of choice for your counterpart. Establishing accounts with WeChat, QQ, and local websites increases the response rate with your constituents.
For a great article on email in China and use of WeChat click here.
About the Author: Brandon Hughes is a the Founder of FAO Global and a Senior Regional Analyst-Asia for Planet Risk. He has previously worked with the U.S. Army, the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, and Asia Society. He is a combat veteran and has conducted research on a wide variety of regional conflicts. Brandon holds a Masters of Law in International Relations from Tsinghua University, Beijing and has extensive overseas experience focused on international security.
