In Chinese culture, as in most other cultures, whom you know is often more important than what you know, and social networks of relatives, friends, or local links are recognized as important to cultivate for help in job hunting, career promotion, or gathering and disseminating information.

In developed economies, it’s called “networking,” or informal exchanges of business cards and ideas with like-minded people in social settings.

In the Peoples Republic of China, and among the Chinese diaspora, it’s called “guanxi”—whom to call when something needs to be done, in an exchange of favors or potential influence—and it has long played a crucial role in facilitating informal credit activities.

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Read the working paper

https://www.adb.org/publications/social-networks-and-informal-inclusion-prc

About the authors

Shijun Chai is a lecturer at Xinyang Normal University.

Yang Chen is a lecturer at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou.

Dezhu Ye is a professor at Jinan University in Guangzhou.

Bihong Huang is a research fellow at the Asian Development Bank Institute.

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