East? West? Stereotyped?

Moving to New England in August 2007, I, as a Chinese native, have been experiencing my own version of "East meets West". After years of serving American clients at an international law firm, I find the West not unfamiliar, but still interesting to explore, from New Hampshire's "Live Free or Die" to Massachusetts’s "Spirit of America", from subprime crisis to presidential debate.

While writing on Business Negotiation between Westerners and Chinese State-Owned Enterprises, I have read through various Western literatures about negotiation with Chinese, which gave me an unparalleled opportunity to re-think about Chinese from the other side. Some comments on Chinese made me nod, while others totally confused me.

In such a globalized world, West and East meet all the time; however, are the two sides understanding each other? Isn't it true that each side is armed with all sorts of stereotypes of the other side before they actually meet? If so, how can both sides avoid misunderstanding?

To continue my efforts on helping both sides to understand each other, here comes this new blog - China Law and Business - it is a generic name, and the purpose is simple:

For both the East and West, let's stay away from those "years-old" stereotypes, and keep ourselves abreast with this dynamic world - everything is changing every day!

For those who are interested in doing business s in China, are you ready for China market? Look out for the dynamic legal, business, and cultural complications, which are what I hope to capture here.