Clifford Chance

Third-party intermediaries in China: Mitigating a necessary risk

8 September 2014

Virtually every article written on successfully doing business in China mentions the importance of using an intermediary (zhongjian ren) to make introductions, provide language and cultural interpretations, and facilitate relationship-building (guanxi). Intermediaries are emphatically recommended for this type of business relationship building but more critically for help in navigating local regulations and regulatory authorities, penetrating an enormous market, lobbying the government, and as sales agents, distributors, and joint venture partners. In some situations, a local agent is required by law or regulation. It is accepted wisdom that without an intermediary well-versed in Chinese language, customs, and laws, a non-Chinese company cannot possibly be successful.

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