First Name or Title?


Chinese names appear in a different order than Western names. Each person has, in this order, a family, generational, and first name. Generational and given names can be separated by a space or a hyphen, but are frequently written as one word. The generational designation is usually the first word of a two-worded first name. This is still popular in some families, especially among the southerners and the overseas Chinese from the south. Most modern Chinese first names are single worded. The first names of those born during the cultural revolution era usually carries political meaning showing support toward Chairman Mao and his wife, Jiang Qing.


Most people should be addressed with a title and their last name. If a person does not have a professional title, use Mr., Madam, Miss, plus the last name.


A married Chinese woman usually retains her maiden name; she will use her husband's last name on occasions for formal addressing only.


Many Chinese adopt an English first name to make it easier for North Americans and other Westerners to address them. You can expect to hear some rather odd and rare English names as they try hard to be different from others.


Address people using official titles such as General Committee Member, or Bureau Chief whenever possible. It is customary to address the deputies by skipping the word 'deputy,' such as, 'Chief' for 'Deputy Chief,' 'Chairman' for 'Vice Chairman' 'General Manager' for 'Assistant General Manager.'


Unless you're a Communist, never refer to someone as Comrade.


China Gift Giving Part 1
Selecting and presenting an appropriate business gift

General Guidelines

Lavish gift giving was an important part of Chinese culture in the past. Today, official policy in Chinese business culture forbids giving gifts; this gesture is considered bribery, an illegal act in this country. Consequently, your gift may be declined.
In many organizations, however, attitudes surrounding gifts are beginning to relax. In any case, you will have to approach giving gifts with discretion, as outlined in the following points.

If you wish to give a gift to an individual, you must do it privately, in the context of friendship, not business.

The Chinese will decline a gift three times before finally accepting, so as not to appear greedy. You will have to continue to insist. Once the gift is accepted, express gratitude. You will be expected to go through the same routine if you are offered a gift.

In the presence of other people, never present a valuable gift to one person. This gesture will cause only embarrassment, and possibly even problems for the recipient, given the strict rules against bribery in Chinese business culture. Do not take any photograph of any gift giving unless it is a symbolic gift presented to the organization as a whole.


Giving a gift to the entire company, rather than an individual, can be acceptable in Chinese business culture as long as you adhere to the following rules:

All business negotiations should be concluded before gifts are exchanged.

Specify that the gift is from the company you represent. If you can, explain the meaning of the gift to the receiver.

Present the gift to the leader of the Chinese negotiating team.

Do not get anything that is obviously expensive, so that the company will not feel obliged to reciprocate.

Valuable gifts should be given to an individual only in private and strictly as a gesture of friendship.

Make sure that the gifts given to people of the same level of importance are equitable or of similar grade. Somehow, they may find out later, and the difference may lead to strains in your relationship.

Do not wrap a gift before arriving in China, as it may be unwrapped in Customs.

If possible, have your gifts wrapped in red paper, which is considered a lucky colour. Plain red paper is one of the few safe choices since a variety of meanings, many of which are negative, are attributed to colours in Chinese culture.

Pink and gold and silver are also acceptable colours for gift wrap. Wrapping in yellow paper with black writing is a gift given only to the dead. Also, do check the variations from region to region about colours.

Because colours have so many different meanings in this culture, your safest option is to entrust the task of gift-wrapping to a store or hotel that offers this service.