Dear Readers:  I've traveled to China on business approximately 30 times over the past decade and have probably spent over a year there. I do not, by any means, claim to be an expert on Chinese business practices nor do I insist that my experience is the norm.  However, I have noticed certain tendencies during the course of my dealings in China, which I have codified for my own edification. Whether these are worth passing on, I do not know, but please accept my modest offering and my whimsical use of the Column A / Column B cliché.

Column A

1. If you have a great meeting in someone's office, and it is not followed by some sort of social interaction, then the business prospects are not bright.  If, on the other hand, you are invited out to dinner, or karaoke, or to someone's home, then you're on the right track to do business.
2. Drinking is de rigueur.  Since business relationships are highly personal - predicated upon mutual trust and understanding – the Chinese want to get your measure without pretense; they want to probe beneath the superficial façade people erect.  The concept is that when one is inebriated, the genuine personality – and motivation – is on display.  In other words, when drunk one wears one's heart on one's sleeve in a relaxed, non-threatening setting.
3. Business success in China is not contingent upon how wealthy or influential a company or individual is outside of China, but more upon the quality of the relationships one establishes with Chinese counterparts.

Column B

1. If you want to successfully conclude a business transaction in China, prepare to stay for the duration.  Deals are not consummated overnight. It's important to stay and stay and stay in order to follow up, to ensure that you stay uppermost in the minds of the people with whom you want to do business.  To enhance the chances of actually closing a deal, remaining on location is better than coming over for a discussion, leaving before the situation ripens, and returning later. This is not to be taken over-literally, but it's a useful general principle.  To a certain extent, the adage out of sight, out of mind applies.
2. Eating is important.  Like drinking - sharing food is a vital social lubricant.  You're dealing with the descendants of an ancient culture to whom food – as is the case with Jews – is central.  The sensuality of food – the appearance, texture, and flavors (sour, sweet, salty, piquant, bitter) - has a significance beyond mere sustenance. 
3. Business follows from friendship, rather than the reverse.