From 12 to 14 June, the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce took part at the FIT Export Fair in Brussels and organised a China Business Awareness Workshop.

Not only differences in language, but also in corporate culture often present a difficult barrier for business people in both countries. According to a study by the Business School of the University of Science & Technology in Hong Kong, the biggest obstacle for Western business people in China is intercultural.

Communication is a process of information exchange which requires that the parties who are communicating understand each other’s system of symbols, gestures and behavior.

• In this China Business Awareness Workshop participants learned how to communicate efficiently with China. They became aware of the visible and invisible differences between China and Flanders.
• Participants got a general China insight, and a more profound view of the Chinese generations through which they will be able to better position and evaluate their Chinese customer, consumer, entrepreneur – who are all products of recent Chinese history.
• Participants learned to empathize with the socio-cultural context of the ethnic Chinese. They got an insight in Chinese corporate culture and learned to handle specific problems linked to Chinese traditions.

Following an introduction by Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce, Wim Polet, Managing Director, Chinainkling spoke about ‘China Business Awareness’. A Q&A session concluded the event.

About the speaker:
Wim Polet is a sinologist who first visited in China in 1984. He worked and lived in China and at present is commuting between Flanders and China. Since 1999 he is focussing on “Efficient communication with China’ at China Inkling Cross-cultural Dynamics (www.chinainkling.com)