First, chinese tend to have business negotiation in a rather indirect manner,as opposed to a direct manner of american businessmen. chinese take time to see whether their prospective business contacts are really reliable as human beings, for example, by inviting them to a party and socializing with them. in contrast, americans act with "get-down-to-business-first" mentality.
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: 經商之道
indirect:婉轉的
as opposed to :相對於
prospective business partners (contacts):將來的交易物件
socialize:交際
in contrast :相對地
decision-making:決策
time-consuming:耗時