After speaking to a close friend of mine about business in China, he enlightened me quite a bit about the way business is done in China. For example, it is commonly known that 关系 (guan1 xi4), or relationship, is often used as a pretext for developing a business relationship. They even go so far as to say that ALL business depends on 关系.

In my limited time in business, I have found a few truths. Firstly, the whole idea that successful business is about relationships alone is a whole load of B.S.. Relationships matter period, regardless of business or not. After all, you will want to retain some kind of relationship with people who are nice, who are willing to help some time or other.