The role of mooncakes and associated gifts has changed in recent years, driven in part by President Xi Jinping’s now decades-old Tigers and Flies campaign against corruption.
Hideously expensive mooncakes are no longer appropriate as business gifts, as they carry the whiff of corruption.
In the exchange of mooncakes for business, it is now the presentation quality that wins. Attractively detailed boxes that are suitable for public display are now preferred. Because this is a business exchange, maintaining a public face is important. Crass, prominent company branding should be avoided if the mooncakes are designed to cement significant business relationships at a personal level.
It’s acceptable to plaster prominent company reminders for general gifts to customers. Here, mooncakes are used as an advertising reminder rather than a genuine show of sincerity towards the customer. Of course, better quality mooncakes have a competitive advantage.
See also: CDL’s mixed-use development site in Shanghai’s Xintiandi ‘progressing well’: Kwek Leng Beng
China gifts fall into four main categories: The first are State visit gifts, representative of the country or province. The second are gifts exchanged to open or maintain a business relationship. They demonstrate sincerity, intent, and purpose. Deciding what is appropriate is a difficult decision.
Where possible, work with your Chinese counterparts to determine what is appropriate. They will also appreciate working with you in the same way to reach an acceptable exchange that gives face to both parties. This avoids unpleasant surprises.
The third are personal gifts, and these can create a problem. If the gift you give as a business gift is also of a personal nature, then the gift may be seen as an invitation to bribery. Very, very expensive mooncake gift boxes are still available. Giving such gifts to Chinese counterparts can send the wrong signal to the giver and the recipient alike.
See also: China perspectives
A business gift should be something suitable for public display, and from a Chinese perspective, this often includes high-quality tea in presentation boxes. Festival-appropriate gifts like mooncakes should follow the same principles.
The fourth are just small tokens of appreciation for staff and delegation members. These include city or state lapel pins or souvenir-style gifts.
Unless previously arranged, gifts are not often opened when they are given. This is designed to preserve face. If the gift is inappropriate, then the recipient is not embarrassed. Gifts are wrapped in any colour except white, which is associated with funerals, or presented in quality carry bags.
Be mindful of what your gift says about your intentions, sincerity and commitment to your Chinese business relationships. If the gift is treated as ritualistic tokenism, then it sends a message that can sour the development of future business.
Not a fan of mooncakes? Grin and bear it: With thoughtful choices, they can be re-gifted without losing face.
Technical outlook for the Shanghai market
For more stories about where money flows, click here for Capital Section
The Shanghai Index developed a mildly alarming pattern of resistance that has the potential to signal an end to the current uptrend. This is the temporary resistance level near 3,885. The market has tested this three times in recent weeks. Each test has failed, and the market has retreated.
This is a bearish condition. However, the market retreats have rebounded from the long-term uptrend line A or the lower edge of the short-term group of moving averages in the Guppy Multiple Moving Average (GMMA) indicator.
This is a bullish condition. A breakout above the resistance level near 3,885 is bullish. Because there are no historical resistance levels, this suggests the index can easily move towards the peak high of June 2015.
A rebound from support features remains a bullish scenario. There are two important support features. The first is the value of the uptrend line A. This is near 3,790. The second is the rebound from support from trend line C. This is near 3,775.
Between these two levels is the value of the upper edge of the long-term GMMA. The long-term GMMA remains well separated, and this adds additional strength to the support features in this area.
There is a cluster of support, and that is good for a bullish outlook for the index. However, a fall below this cluster of support is particularly bearish simply because the support features are so strong.
This pattern of support and resistance does not form an upward-sloping triangle pattern. Although the resistance level is well defined, there is no strong confirmation of the upsloping trend line, which is required to confirm the triangle pattern.
The lingering issue of concern for the market is the upcoming Golden Week holidays. This week-long break in trading activity often reduces the momentum of any move prior to the holiday break.
Daryl Guppy is an international financial technical analysis expert. He has provided weekly Shanghai Index analysis for mainland Chinese media for two decades. Guppy appears regularly on CNBC Asia and is known as “The Chart Man”. He is a former national board member of the Australia-China Business Council. The writer owns Chinese stock and index ETFs
