As a small remote country New Zealand is intent on expanding its relationship with China,particularly in goods and services trade, bilateral investment, and science and technologycollaboration. This requires that New Zealand companies and their employees collaborate withboth the Chinese people and Chinese organizations. Relationships underpin much of business inChina, and this paper uses a multiple case study approach to examine how New Zealand firmsselect collaborative partners and develop relationships within the Chinese business environment.It finds that in the partner selection phase, New Zealand companies in China place emphasis ontheir own identity and reputation along with research, and then on developing mutuallybeneficial collaborative relationships, based primarily on guanxi principles and relational trustsystems, and secondarily on formal agreements and contracts.
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