Cultural Differences in Business Etiquette between China and the USA

摘要:中美商务礼仪差异是文化差异的重要组成部分。在不同的文化背景下，中美两国的商务人士在观念和价值观上存在很大差异，因此他们的商务礼仪行为也存在差异。随着创新和经济全球化的不断扩大，中美经贸合作日益紧密。本文的目的是比较中美两国的时间、空间和文化价值，以方便两国的商人有效、恰当地开展商业活动。本文发现:中国属于权力距离大、不确定性规避强、集体主义、长期导向文化，美国属于权力距离小、不确定性规避弱、个人主义、短期导向文化。最后，提出了培养文化差异意识、克服沟通障碍、消除偏见等策略，以解决由于文化差异所带来的跨文化交际问题。

关键词：商务礼仪,国际贸易, 文化差异

Abstract: Differences between Chinese and American’s business etiquette constitute an important part of cultural differences. Under different cultural backgrounds, business people in China and the United States demonstrate great differences in concepts and values, and therefore their business etiquette behaviors are different. With the expansion of innovation and economic globalization, business cooperation between China and the United States has become closer and closer.  The purpose of this thesis is to compare the time, space and cultural values of China and the United States in order to facilitate the business people from the two cultures to carry out their business activities effectively and appropriately. This thesis has found that: China belongs to a culture of high power distance, strong uncertainty avoidance, collectivism and long term orientation, while the USA belongs to a culture of low power distance, weak uncertainty avoidance, individualism and short term orientation. Finally, such strategies as nurturing the awareness of cultural differences, overcoming communication barriers and eliminating prejudice are given to solve the intercultural communication problems as a result of the cultural differences.

Key words: Business etiquette, international trade, the cultural differences