How you communicate in China depends fundamentally on your relationship with the person you’re addressing. Every communication choice — the words you use, how direct you are, even which channel you use — should reflect your relationship context. Speaking to a superior requires different language than speaking to a peer or someone junior. Addressing someone you know well differs from addressing a stranger.
This isn’t just being polite; it reflects a worldview where relationships are central to how people function. Your communication simultaneously delivers content and manages the relationship. Get the calibration wrong, and you may damage the relationship regardless of whether your information was accurate. Skilled communicators read relationship contexts quickly and adjust automatically. They consider not just what needs to be said but how relationship context shapes the appropriate way to say it.
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