Guanxi - different level of social networking

Guanxi means "connection" or "relationships" in Chinese. It's also a very important cultural point to keep in mind when doing business in China.
Business week recently had an article about this. In this article, there are 2 key examples to note:

• 1/ Ogilvy and Mather Public Relations Worldwide holds an annual party for former employers, many of whom now work for Ogilvy and Mather's clients, including: Lennovo, Johnson and Johnson ...
• 2/ Proter and Gamble (China) Graduates have their own website, where they post everything from new job prospects to potential tennis partner...

So social networking trend has taken place at different level and medium now, not only online on social networking sites such as: Facebook, Myspace, Multiply, Orkut, Friendster..., but also offline events (traditional) and website for their own niche / needs.

Guanxi is important, not just in China. We all know that but how to leverage it is more critical.

(Pictures: Courtersy of http://static.userland.com/images/adeccoAlumni/whyGuanxi.gif)