Cultural Characteristics Of South American Markets And Their Influences On Chinese Export Businesses

With the prosperity of the world economy and China's entry into the WTO, more and more Chinese enterprises start business activities of international trade. One of the difficulties they will face is that people should work and cooperate with people of different cultural backgrounds. And impact of cultural factors on commercial communication and business is increasingly exposed. Studying different cultures will help people know how to minimize misunderstandings arisen by different cultural backgrounds,bring advantages into play actively and effectively and promote exchanges and cooperation between countries and regions.Culture is accumulation or build-up of material and spiritual wealth created by human beings in the historical process, and its powerful material and mental strength has long-term impact on social development. This strength is not only reflected in the way of thinking, lifestyle, social customs of a specific country, a nation, or a region, but also reflected in their social, political and economic systems. Culture influences economy and cultural factors like specific national psychological accumulation, values, cultural traditions and customs, constitute the cultural background of economic activities. They influence (stimulate or inhibit) the efficiency of economic activities by influencing people's mental states, thinking habits and behavior patterns. This effect is potential, indirect and spontaneous. So everyone can feel strong power of cultural backgrounds inevitably.This thesis will mainly discuss the cultural characteristics of South American countries and their influences on Chinese export businesses, especially its main countries Brazil, Argentina and Chile. South America is a vast land and rich in many kinds of natural resources, whose market complement Chinese market to a large extent. Its current development is amazing and the market there is very attractive. In recent years, Chinese have invested there and there is still great market potential for them to develop. In order to do business more effectively and successfully, Chinese enterprises should be very familiar with South American countries'culture, which is much different from China's and seize the opportunities to exploit large markets there. In this thesis, a general introduction about historical, geographical, social and cultural environment of South America will be given first. Then it analyzes cultural characteristics, such as religions, customs, languages, educational levels and their influences on business activities. After that, the author will point out the advantages and disadvantages of doing business there and give some suggestions and advice in order to achieve further progress. For example, enterprises should have a better understanding of the importance of the South American markets and choose accurate market strategies, choose an appropriate direction of foreign investment and select appropriate trade representatives and secure terms of payment, improve the management of enterprises and products'quality in South American markets. At the same time, the author will choose Dongfang City of Paraguay as a research target and have a detailed analysis of its importance to business dealings between China and South American countries. Finally, one commercial project has been put forward according to the geographical situation and characters of South Americans.The world is becoming a global village, only those who have a very good understanding of culture, and combine their products with it would survive in intense market competition. South America, as a gold and worthy target, deserves Chinese enterprises'earnest attention and active exploration.