Today, globalization is unstoppable, making it the norm that people from diverse cultural backgrounds work and live together on a daily base. At the same time, we all know that trust is the foundation of long lasting and successful partnerships. But how can we build that trust when we don’t understand the covert cultural signals being sent?

China, the Middle Kingdom, opened its doors to the world more than 30 years ago and has developed into one of the largest economic centers of the world. However, for many westerners, this country, its people and culture remain mysteriously hidden like something of a closed book.

Hong-Hong has been working and living in both Europe and Asia over the last decades allowing her insight into the interaction between the European and Chinese cultures.  In this presentation, she will show us how to find the right path for building that fundamental trust so we can build a successful business relationship with Chinese and ultimately reap the fruits of international cooperation.

3 key take-aways

• There are differences between Chinese and Westerners, none-the-less we are all human.
• Chinese may be strangers, but they are not strange! Get involved with them.
• For the Chinese, a trustful relationship comes from the heart, not from the head.

Speaker

Ms. HongHong Xu was born in Beijing, has been working and living in both China and Germany since 1988. She holds a Master of Engineering in Materials Science from Technical University Darmstadt (1995) and MBA from University Mannheim (2000). She is senior manager at BASF SE.

Feel free to bring friends who are not HIP members by sharing the link of this event and having her sign up as well.  Hope to see you there!

Registration: please use this Doodle to confirm your participation

Format: Speaker presentation and Q&A

Food: Order what you want and pay for what you order

Donations: Our group puts on events through donations from members at the event so we ask for a €10 donation. We thank you for your support!

Location: The venue is located in Heidelberg Kirchheim. It can be reached by Bus 33 to Gregor Mendel Realschule or Pleikartsförster Strasse.

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Picture by Dorothée Piroelle