LI exec offers tips on doing business in China

The way Savio Chan explains it, understanding how to do business in China boils down to knowing five simple rules. And the way to remember those rules is even simpler. Just remember: CHINA.

Chan, 48, president and chief executive of US China Partners, a business consulting firm with offices in Melville and Manhattan, held forth on penetrating the Chinese market before a Long Island Metro Business Action meeting at the Holiday Inn in Ronkonkoma on Friday.

So, he says, here's how it works:

C is for culture, as in making sure you understand theirs; H is for harness, as in harnessing relations with Chinese government officials; I stands for intellectual property, as in making sure you protect yours; N is for navigate, as in finding someone to take you through the shoals; and A means anticipate, as in almost anything, but mainly that your copyrights might be copied, so make sure to protect them.

Here's how complicated things can get in China. Chan said one American business executive he knew who was courting business there presented a Chinese executive with a gift of a clock from the upscale Tiffany & Co. The American never heard a word from the Chinese exec.

He finally found out why.

"A clock is offensive," Chan said. "It [symbolically] means death in China." The American had to apologize before he could do business with his Chinese counterpart, Chan said.

Perhaps you didn't know that. If so, there may be many other things you don't know about China.

"You'll need patience, because China is a slow-moving culture," said Chan, who was born in Hong Kong and has visited China at least 50 times since coming to the United States to study at Baruch College in Manhattan.

He has brought executives from Panasonic, Yahoo and Apple to China for business purposes.

Al Vitters, a retired U.S. Army colonel from Northport who teaches organizational theory at St. Joseph's College in Patchogue, was among the attendees Friday.

The session, he said, was "absolutely" worthwhile. "These were insights you could bring back to the classroom," Vitters said.