🌏

Building Relationships — Reading

Read “How East is meeting West” about guanxi — connections in Chinese business — then answer the comprehension and vocabulary tasks.

💬

Ex A – Warm-upWhere to build relations

👤

Ex B & C – Who / WhereIdentify people & paragraphs

❓

Ex D & E – ComprehensionQuestions & key words

🗣️

Ex F – DiscussionDoing business in China

Enter your details to begin

Your name

Your course / group

Exercise A

Warm-up

Think about this before you read.

Where can you meet people to build good business relations?

Exercise B & C

Read the article

Read quickly first, then answer the two tasks below. The paragraphs are numbered to help you.

How East is meeting West

by Frederik Balfour

B — Who are these people?

Read the article and write who each person is.

1. Li Ka-shing

2. Gary Wang

3. Helen Wong

4. Zhou Junjun

5. Andrew Grant

C — Which paragraph …?

Choose the paragraph number (1–8) that matches each description.

1

begins by talking about the origins of guanxi?

2

gives examples of what can be achieved if you have connections?

3

talks about how guanxi is changing?

4

talks about top connections made at MBA programmes within China?

5

talks about how a business started through connections made at a European business school?

6

talks about networking through multinational companies?

7

talks about Chinese businesspeople wanting something in return for connections?

8

suggests that making connections might take time and effort?

Exercise D & E

Comprehension & key words

Use the article (shown again below) to answer the questions and find the words.

How East is meeting West

by Frederik Balfour

D — Answer these questions

1. What is guanxi?

2. What examples are given of things you can achieve if you have good guanxi?

3. What can Western companies do if they are involved in informal groups?

4. How is guanxi changing?

5. Why does Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide hold annual parties for previous employees?

E — Find words or phrases in the article which mean the following

1. using or taking what you need from a supply of something (paragraph 2)

2. when someone always supports someone or something (paragraph 3)

3. being responsible for what you do and willing to explain it or accept criticism (paragraph 3)

4. a moral or legal duty to do something (paragraph 3)

5. people you know who can help you, especially because they are in positions of power (paragraph 4)

6. talking to other people who do similar work in order to help each other (paragraph 6)

7. determination to keep trying to do something difficult (paragraph 7)

Exercise F

Discussion

Give your own opinion on each question.

1. What advice would you give to someone trying to develop business relationships in China?

2. A foreign company is opening a branch in your country. What factors should it consider?

3. In your experience, are certain nationalities better at building relationships than others? If so, which ones?

✅

All exercises complete!

Review your answers below, then send them to your teacher.

Click the button below to send your answers directly to your teacher.