Mistake #2- Government officials
It is almost impossible for your business to prosper in China without the cooperation of the government officials. Their involvement in (or sometimes interference with) your daily business is omnipresent. Sometimes, you may feel motivated to lie to them.
We cannot stress this point enough DO NOT LIE TO GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. This has to the first rule in dealing with them.
If you get caught in a little lie, you may well be done in China. As a little lie may not have any legal consequence. The simple fact that you are no longer in the government’s “circle of trust” can cost you everything you have worked so hard to achieve.
Why is it? Your untruthful statement is regarded as your attempt to fool the officials, a dangerous sign of your disrespect to them. To make things worse, if they ever believe in your lie even for a second, you have just done irreparable harm. Your success in cheating them will be remembered as their moment of “losing face”, to a foreigner. Just ask any Chinese friend how serious it is to cause an official to lose face. You will see what we mean.
Take-away lessons: 1) government officials can lie to you, but you must never lie to them; and 2) you can skillfully exclude information, but never provide false information.
