Thinking of an MBA in China? Here's how to navigate the cultural gap

Why study abroad? For the millions of students who take this step each year, the appeal is typically a blend of cultural immersion, broader career paths, and the mystery of the unknown. Few global destinations can offer this quite like China.

 From its culture, which is rooted in Confucian and Taoist concepts of social harmony, to its business landscape—where industries are often led by domestic titans with little presence elsewhere in the world—China offers a unique prospect for learners.

 For global MBA students seeking both professional and personal development, this is particularly appealing. At schools such as PKU Guanghua School of Management, based in Beijing, students travel from countries as diverse as Australia, Italy, Sweden, Malaysia, and Ecuador to bolster their growth.

 When faced with such a unique study experience, students often encounter a number of key challenges—preparation is key to easing the transition. We spoke with international students currently enrolled in the PKU Guanghua MBA to find out how students can navigate the cultural gap.

How do I navigate daily life in China?

Before overcoming the challenges that come with studying at one of the country’s elite business schools, international MBA students in China must first learn how to navigate daily life in the country.

This includes becoming accustomed to local norms. These can range from an absence of any tipping culture to the ubiquity of super apps such as WeChat, which allow individuals to book appointments, send messages, and make payments.

Perhaps China’s most significant cultural nuance is the cashless system operating across Beijing and other major cities. While various global regions are shifting away from cash, transactions in China have largely taken place using QR codes via WeChat or Alipay for most of the last decade.

This was an immediate challenge for Meryl Chin Si Ying, a current student from Singapore who enrolled in the PKU Guanghua MBA after living and studying in Australia and the US, and working for the accounting and professional services firm EY.

To ease her transition, Meryl used social media to research, preparing herself by downloading relevant apps on her phone before arriving in China—including WeChat and Alipay, as well as lifestyle apps such as Xiaohongshu. Still, she encountered initial difficulties as she had to wait for her new Chinese bank account to open and link with her online payment apps.

 “In the first week, I had so much trouble even trying to order food,” Meryl says, adding that it wasn’t long before she’d fully embraced a cashless lifestyle. “Just recently I came back home and went to the post office and it was the first time since last year that I touched cash.”

Meryl advises students to become similarly familiar with the everyday apps required in China when preparing to study there—and to be open to the change: “The convenience is really next level in China. But it just needs a bit of a shift and getting used to once everything is set up.”

How can I integrate into Chinese society?

Participating in the MBA experience means connecting with others, both inside and outside of the classroom. This means embracing opportunities to socialize and gaining some familiarity with the local language so that you can navigate everyday situations. In China, this also involves understanding and being sensitive to social cues and customs, which are integral to building working relationships.

 Within introductory cultural classes available to international students, PKU introduced Meryl to the concept of guanxi, the system of reciprocal, personalized relationship building that underpins both personal and professional life.

“It’s the idea of building long-term relationships on trust and reciprocity, and I think that is a very key concept that extends beyond school, basically into Chinese society,” she explains.

Understanding this aided Meryl’s integration within MBA life. “With your local classmates you have a meal, you talk, and you build trust first. Then things develop after that,” she explains.

Dining etiquette is particularly significant in Chinese culture: elements such as seating arrangements and how you use chopsticks are important. Students should be sensitive to such customs, says Sean Khoo Shuan Eng, a current PKU Guangua MBA student from Malaysia. When uncertain, ask for help and follow others’ example, he advises, adding that students should embrace these opportunities to immerse themselves.

“For the first few months, it's going to be a little bit hard for foreigners,” he admits. “People are quite welcoming. It's just you may need to adapt a little bit.”

For Meryl, building strong connections with classmates has helped her with new aspects of social life. “I realized my local classmates are honestly the greatest teachers and guides when navigating through China,” she says. “Whether it's culture, language or business, or any other questions—I would say they are way better than any external guidebooks.”

Both Sean and Meryl decided to enroll in the PKU Guanghua MBA to increase their career prospects. Already the world’s second-largest economy—with growth expected to continue—studying an MBA in China would provide long-term benefits, thinks Meryl. 

“That timeline coincides with the peak of my career. So I feel it's very important for me to understand what it's like to do business in China.”

However, as they continue their MBA journeys, opportunities to grow on a personal level are similarly important.

“International students should come with an open heart and mind to learn about a new culture,” says Meryl. “Cross-cultural differences can feel a bit uncomfortable for some people, but I think learning to embrace them is a very good thing. You never know what you could get out of it.”