In 1793, the English envoy Lord McCartney arrived in China, seeking from the Chinese Emperor Qianlong an opening of trade. Replying to the request the Emperor wrote the King of England a message that read: "There is nothing we lack, as your principal envoy and others have themselves observed. We have never set much store on strange or indigenous objects, nor do we need any more of your country's manufactures."

    Since its unification more than 2,000 years ago, China has viewed itself as the center of culture in the world; hence, the Chinese name for China is Zhongguo, or "Middle Kingdom." In the past, few foreign manufactured goods could compare to those that were Chinese-made. China has long seen itself as an export nation: grudgingly importing raw materials, but seldom goods manufactured from outside.

    One of the reasons for this attitude is based on China's long agrarian tradition.

    China was one of the first civilizations to develop farming and most Chinese then, as now, live in rural farming communities. These communities, often separated from outside

    help by China's mountainous geography, were vulnerable to numerous natural disasters. In order to survive, they learned to band together forming communal, rather than individualistic societies. Thus, what is good for the village always trumps what is good

    for the individual and cooperation and obedience to the group is favored over independent thinkers and mavericks. This agrarian mindset prevails even among China's modern city dwellers.

    Though ruthlessly exploited by the ruling class, farmers were the producers of China's wealth and held a higher status over merchants who were thought to live parasitically off the labors of others. The prejudice that commerce and business are somewhat shady

    activities prevails, and not without good reason.

    Another aspect of China's agrarian culture that greatly influences Chinese business attitude is geography. Surrounded by rough terrain that in the past only supported pastoral economies, the sophisticated Chinese agrarian and urban culture looked down on pastoralists, and since they constituted their only experience with foreigners, the Chinese came to assume all foreigners were culturally inferior.

    During the West's industrial revolution, China admitted some Western products were

    superior and markets for these opened up briefly, but in recent years China has quickly closed the technology gap, and may well be in the lead again. The old attitude of "There is nothing we lack" is again prevalent in international trade with the result that buying

    Chinese products and services is relatively uncomplicated, while selling products or services to the Chinese can be as challenging as selling air conditioners to Eskimos.

    To market to Chinese one should keep in mind the frugal and mercenary buying habits of country folk the world over. Your product must be either absolutely essential, infinitely practical, or intrinsically valuable.

    Absolutely essential items include raw materials, commodities, and basic foodstuffs. Infinitely practical are those products such as farm and factory equipment, tools and parts, and medical equipment. Intrinsically valuable items are those that are guaranteed to never lose their value such as jewelry, precious metals, and finely crafted objets d'art.

    Until the average Chinese have a disposable income comparable to western consumers, products or services that appeal to vanity, sloth, and self indulgence are not likely to be well received.

    1793年，英國使節馬戛爾尼來到中國，請求乾隆皇帝開放貿易。作為回應，乾隆給英國國王書信一封，說道，"天朝物產豐盈無所不有，原不借外夷貨物以通有無。"

    秦始皇統一中國之后的2000多年里，中國認為自己是世界文化的中心。中國的字面解釋即為"中央的王國".以前的外國貨大部分不能和中國貨媲美，中國也一直把自己看做出口國：可以勉強進口原材料，但是很少進口制成品。

    這種態度的原因之一是中國長期的農耕傳統。中國是最古老的農業文明之一，大部分中國人現在還是住在農村。很多山里的農村與世隔絕，自然災害頻發，對它們的影響很大。為了生存，農民組成了合作集體，沒有組成個人主義的社會。因此，村子的利益大于個人，合作和忠于集體重于獨立思考和標新立異。這種農耕思維在現代中國的城市居民中依然如此。

    農民雖然受到統治階級的殘酷剝削，卻創造了中國的財富，地位也高于商人，因為商人被看做依靠他人勞動的寄生蟲，商業是見不得人的買賣。這種對商業的歧視十分盛行，其中不無道理。

    中國農耕文化中，導致歧視商業的另外一個原因是地理因素。農村和城市的周圍都是荒涼的土地，只能發展游牧經濟。先進的農耕文化和市井文化瞧不起游牧者，而中國人以前接觸的外國人都是游牧者，自然就以為外國人都是劣等民族了。

    西方工業革命期間，中國承認某些外國貨更好，暫時打開了市場，引入這些商品。但是最近幾年，中國迅速縮短了與西方的技術差距，可能還會再次成為領軍者。以前的"天朝物產豐盈無所不有"的態度又出現在國際貿易中，導致購買中國的產品和服務相對簡單，而賣產品和服務給中國變得十分困難，就像把空調賣給愛斯基摩人一樣。

    要讓中國人買東西，你應該牢記中國人勤儉持家，精打細算的習慣。你的產品必須是絕對重要，或是永遠實用，或者本身的價值很高。

    絕對重要的商品包括原材料、日用品和基本食物。永遠實用的包括工農業設備、工具和零件，以及醫療設備。本身價值很高的商品包括那些永遠不會貶值的，比如珠寶、貴金屬和精美的藝術品。

    只有一般的中國人的可支配收入達到西方消費者的水平，那些奢侈品或者奢華的服務才可能有市場。