Is the new Chinese year for goats or sheep? Whichever animal is in ascendancy, it's time to update your approach to negotiation when dealing with companies based in China, say Li Ma, Jeanne Brett, Hao Wang and Zhi-Xue Zhang in the Harvard Business Review. “What worked a year or two ago is no longer effective, because the competitive and regulatory environment has transformed so quickly,” they say.

So what should you be focusing on?

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  • Basic Resources: Right now, Chinese companies are looking at access to energy, raw materials and food products that support growth in their economy. The authors use the recent purchase of U.S. pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc. as an example: “This acquisition was motivated by China's increased demand for pork and Smithfield's reputation for high-quality, safe products.”
  • Mature Global Markets: “Lenovo bought IBM's PC business in 2004 (and its x86 server business in 2014) for access to brands and customer relationships in mature markets in developed countries,” say Ma, Brett, Wang and Zhang. The combination of the consistent Chinese markets with the products' mature markets helped Lenovo become the largest server supplier in China and the third largest in the world. It also brought advantages of scale and better integration at its various businesses.
  • Softer Skills: Though strong technology and resource opportunities will attract Chinese companies, don't ignore key soft skills such as basic relationship building and capitalizing on a reputation for integrity, say the authors.