Hong Kong City Guide - Business Etiquette

Suits are advisable for business - Hong Kong can be surprisingly formal in its outward business standards, in contrast to the casual buccaneering entrepreneurialism of its business practice. Hong Kongers are also not casual about business punctuality - appointments should be fixed in advance and kept. The culture of business cards is prevalent and, if possible, cards should be printed up with Chinese translations on the reverse. Almost all top hotels provide business centres for visiting businesspeople, with typing, photocopying, translation and other services. Normal office hours are 0900-1300 and 1400-1800 Monday to Friday and 0900-1300 Saturday, with some offices staying open later on Saturday and almost every Hong Kong office full of late-night workers long after sunset.

Although business lunches (especially dim sum) and after-hours drinking are a prevalent part of the Hong Kong business scene, there is not the same emphasis on drinking parties and KTV bonding evenings as there is in China and Japan. Hong Kongers are too busy focusing on the bottom line to worry about company camaraderie. Expat workers drink together hugely but this is not a formal part of local business culture - just an unavoidable one.