会谈

会谈 (huìtán) is "meet and talk," the formal word for a business meeting between two parties; inside the company the same event is just 开会 (kāihuì). At a factory you will usually face four roles. The boss (老板 lǎobǎn, addressed as 某总) decides price and terms. The sales or account person (业务 yèwù, 业务员 yèwùyuán) speaks the most and often some English. The merchandiser (跟单 gēndān, literally "follow the order") tracks your order day to day and is the person you will message on WeChat for the next year. The engineer (工程师 gōngchéngshī, addressed as 某工) answers the technical questions and is the one most likely to tell you plainly what cannot be done.

The boss talks in principles and the engineer talks in millimetres. A commitment from the salesperson is worth only what the engineer and the boss confirm afterwards, so the phrases on this page aim at one thing: getting each promise said by the person who can keep it, in a form specific enough to write down. Read the soft-no section before the first meeting; it changes how you hear everything else.

Chinese business address is surname plus title, never given name alone, and never 先生 (xiānsheng, Mr.) for a counterpart who has a title. 王总 is safe for anyone who might be in charge; erring upward flatters, erring downward stings. Deputies are often addressed without the 副 (fù, deputy): 副总经理 Wang is still 王总 to his face. Read the business card for the title, then use it in every sentence that addresses that person.

For yourself, give the company first and your name second, the same order as the card: 我是[公司]的 Hunter, 负责产品和供应链 (I'm Hunter from [company], responsible for product and supply chain). Your counterparts will look for your rank in that sentence. If you own the company, say so plainly: 我是公司的创始人 (chuàngshǐrén, founder) or 我是老板. It tells the room that what you agree to is final, which speeds everything up.

The costliest habit for a learner in a negotiation is nodding at a sentence you only half caught. In a factory meeting the half you missed is often the number. Interrupting to check is normal and reads as seriousness; Chinese buyers do it to each other. Three tools cover nearly every case: ask for speed (说慢一点), ask for the hard word in writing (写下来), and restate what you heard so the other side can correct it (我理解的是……对吗). Expect regional accents: in Zhejiang and Guangdong many managers speak Mandarin with a southern accent where zh/z and sh/s merge, so 十 (shí, ten) and 四 (sì, four) can sound alike. Confirm every number by writing it or holding up fingers.

潜台词 (qiántáicí) is a theatre word, "the lines beneath the lines." In a negotiation it is most of the content. A flat 不行 (bù xíng, "no way") to a client's face costs both sides face, so refusals arrive dressed as difficulty, effort, or delay. A learner who translates word by word hears a yes and flies home with a promise nobody made. The rule of thumb: anything other than a specific yes with a number or a date attached is a no, a maybe, or a price increase waiting to be named.

表态 (biǎotài) is "to show one's attitude," to state where you stand. The same face logic that softens the factory's refusals applies to yours. A visitor who says 不行 loudly wins the sentence and loses the relationship; one who says 这个我们接受不了 (this we can't accept) with a reason and a counter-proposal keeps both. The pattern is acknowledgement first, then 不过 (búguò, "however"), then the position, then a way forward. You also have the visitor's best tool, deferral: 我回去跟团队商量一下 ("I'll discuss it with my team when I get back") ends any pressure at the table without conceding anything.

收尾 (shōuwěi) is "gather the tail," to wrap up. A factory meeting often dissolves into tea, a tour, or lunch without anyone summarising, and an unsummarised meeting produces three different memories of what was agreed. Stand up last: say 我简单总结一下, read the decisions back with owner and date, ask 有没有遗漏的？(yǒu méiyǒu yílòu de, "anything missed?"), and promise the minutes. Then the courtesies: 今天谈得很愉快 (today's talk went very well), 辛苦各位了, and the handshake line 合作愉快.