The significance of trust and renqing in the long-term orientation of Chinese business-to-business relationships

While business relationships with China are receiving increased attention in both practitioner and academic discourse, very little empirical work however, has been undertaken to isolate and examine measures that focus on business-to-business relationships, and as such, research in this area is somewhat scant. In an attempt to bridge this gap, and add to the knowledge in this emerging discipline, the research aims to develop a conceptual framework to explore the relationship between trust and the long-term orientation in Chinese business-to-business market relationships. Based on a survey with Hong Kong companies that have a buyer-seller relationship with Chinese companies, the empirical findings indicate the mediating role and significance of ‘renqing’ for enhancing trust and contributing towards the long-term stability in relational exchange. The results highlight several implications for practicing managers to consider when aiming to establish and develop relationships in a Chinese business-to-business context.