Cross Border Transactions -- How Many Hardships does China Need to Overcome?

People frequently observe the cultural barriers which the Chinese companies find difficult to overcome in relation to China's nascent outbound investment program. Since China is culturally and politically different from the mainstream trading countries, an attribution of the anguish on both sides of the negotiation table to cultural barriers is indeed tempting but often misplaced. Any professionals operating in places other than in the rule setting non Anglo-American jurisdictions always have war stories to share with their colleagues. The Mexican tycoons prefer to negotiate their deals in the smoking rooms of their vast hacienda guarded by private soldiers. The Indians nod to signify their disapproval and shake their heads for approval, or sometimes vice versa. The Japanese entertain their foreign guests with stylized geisha dance and ocean dainties of whale meat and blow fish. These cultural idiosyncrasies would make our deal process more memorable, but they seldom