中美经商之道的差异

 　　I think there are at least two differences in the way of business between Chinese and American bussinessmen.

　　First, Chinese tend to have business negotiation¹ in a rather indirect manner,as opposed to a direct manner of American businessmen. Chinese take time to see whether their prospective² business contacts are really reliable as human beings, for example, by inviting³ them to a party and socializing with them. In contrast, Americans act with "get-down-to-business-first" mentality⁴.

　　Second, the decision-making process of Chinese companies is considered to be very slow and time-consuming. This is because most Chinese companies have the bottom-up decision-making system which involves many people in the decision-making, as opposed to the American companies which usually operate with quick decisions made by the top management.

　　I hope American businessmen will understand these differences in business practices and adjust to the Chinese way of business.

　　Notes:

　　way of business: 经商之道

　　indirect:婉转的

　　as opposed to :相对于

　　prospective business partners (contacts):将来的交易对象

　　socialize:交际

　　in contrast :相对地

　　decision-making:决策

　　time-consuming:耗时

1 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

2 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

3 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

4 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。