Where we start
Session 5 booked the meeting: 我们周四下午三点见 (wǒmen zhōusì xiàwǔ sān diǎn jiàn, see you Thursday at 3 pm). Tonight is that Thursday. Nothing new is taught for its own sake; almost every phrase is one you have already said, now put in the order a first meeting runs. Three phrases are new: 我们开始吧 (wǒmen kāishǐ ba, shall we begin), 请再说一遍 (qǐng zài shuō yí biàn, please say it again) and 对吗 (duì ma, is that right). The order of the first five minutes is common practice, described rather than taken from a source, and the page says so where it matters.
★ What you walk out with tonight. A five-move script for the first five minutes, said aloud with a partner; the quantity, price and date from session 4 said across a table and confirmed; a polite repeat request and the habit of saying a number back; a three-line WeChat follow-up you could send tonight; and your own score on the eight-row first-meeting ship gate.
The script
5 min liveA first meeting opens with five moves before any business: a greeting by title, the cards, your self-introduction, a little small talk about the trip, and then the move to the agenda. Each one is short. Together they take about five minutes, and they are the five minutes the other side remembers. The order is common practice for a first business meeting; no source checked for these pages sets it out as a script, so treat it as a sensible default, not a rule.
LiveFive moves, in order3 min▶
1 · Greet by title. 王经理您好 (Wáng jīnglǐ nín hǎo, hello, Manager Wang), with a small nod. Surname plus title is how the business Chinese sources describe addressing someone; session 2 is where it came from. If you do not know a title, surname plus 先生 (xiānsheng, Mr) or 女士 (nǚshì, Ms) is the safe default.
2 · Cards, two hands. 这是我的名片 (zhè shì wǒ de míngpiàn, this is my business card), held in both hands with the Chinese side facing him so he can read it at once. Take his the same way, read it, and set it on the table in front of you for the meeting. Two hands and the Chinese side facing the recipient are described in the two secondary sources session 2 used.
3 · Your five lines. 您好 (nín hǎo, hello, polite) · 我姓 (wǒ xìng, my surname is) · 我叫 (wǒ jiào, my name is) · 我是鲁门物流的经理 (wǒ shì Lǔmén Wùliú de jīnglǐ, I am a manager at Lumen Logistics) · 很高兴认识您 (hěn gāoxìng rènshi nín, pleased to meet you). Exactly as session 2 built them.
4 · The trip. The host often asks about your journey: 路上顺利吗 (lùshang shùnlì ma, did the trip go smoothly). The easy answer is 很顺利，谢谢 (hěn shùnlì, xièxie, very smoothly, thank you). This kind of opener is common practice; it is a courtesy, not a test, and one line back is enough.
5 · To business. 我们开始吧 (wǒmen kāishǐ ba, shall we begin). 吧 (ba, suggestion particle) turns "we start" into a suggestion. As the visitor, it is usually polite to let the host say it; if the pause runs long, you can offer it yourself. That too is common practice, not a documented rule.
Self-studyWhen the script goes off the page3 min▶
Real meetings do not follow the order. Manager Wang may hand you his card before you have said hello, or bring in a colleague whose title you do not know. Two rules cover most of it. First, whatever arrives, answer it with the session 2 words: take a card with two hands, read it, and use the title on it. Second, for anyone new, fall back to surname plus 先生 (xiānsheng, Mr) or 女士 (nǚshì, Ms) until you learn the title.
If someone senior is introduced as 李总 (Lǐ zǒng, President Li), use that form back. The 总 (zǒng, chief) form is widely heard in mainland business, but neither source checked for these pages documents it, so use it when you hear it rather than guessing it upward.
| If this happens | Say |
|---|---|
| A new person joins, title unknown | surname + 先生 (xiānsheng, Mr) or 女士 (nǚshì, Ms) + 您好 (nín hǎo, hello, polite) |
| You are offered tea | 谢谢 (xièxie, thank you) |
| You did not catch a name | 请再说一遍 (qǐng zài shuō yí biàn, please say it again), then repeat it back |
| It is time to start | 我们开始吧 (wǒmen kāishǐ ba, shall we begin) |
The card that went into a pocket. A constructed case: Lumen Logistics, 鲁门物流 (Lǔmén Wùliú, Lumen Logistics), Manager Wang and every scenario on this page are invented for the running case. At an earlier visit, a Lumen colleague took Manager Wang's card with one hand and put it straight into his jacket. Nothing was said, and the meeting went fine. This time Lumen's lead read the card, said 王经理 (Wáng jīnglǐ, Manager Wang) aloud from it, and laid it on the table beside her notepad. It took four seconds, and it was the first thing Manager Wang mentioned in his follow-up.
Saying the numbers
5 min liveSession 4's numbers now arrive at speaking speed, from someone else: 两千四百箱 (liǎngqiān sìbǎi xiāng, 2,400 cartons), 三万八千五百块 (sānwàn bāqiān wúbǎi kuài, 38,500 yuan), and a date biggest unit first. You will mishear one. The fix is not to guess but to ask, politely, with 请再说一遍 (qǐng zài shuō yí biàn, please say it again), and then to say the number back and write the digits where both sides can see them.
LiveThe repeat request, and saying it back3 min▶
请再说一遍 (qǐng zài shuō yí biàn, please say it again) is 请 (qǐng, please) from session 5, then 再 (zài, again), 说 (shuō, say) and 一遍 (yí biàn, one time). Add 麻烦您 (máfan nín, may I trouble you) in front if you want it softer still. Asking someone to repeat a number is normal in any business meeting; with a new partner it reads as care, not as a weak ear. That is common practice, described rather than sourced.
Say it back. When the number comes again, repeat it with 对吗 (duì ma, is that right) at the end: 十四块，对吗 (shísì kuài, duì ma, 14 yuan, is that right). He answers 对 (duì, right) or corrects you. Write the digits on your notepad at the same moment, turned so he can read them, as session 4 suggested.
A note on the tone marks. 一遍 (yí biàn, one time) is written here with the tone you say: 一 (yī, one) rises before a fourth tone. Standard pinyin (GB/T 16159-2012) writes 一 (yī, one) with its original tone, so a dictionary shows yī biàn; teaching lists may show the change, as these do.
Self-studyQuantity, price and date, said in the meeting3 min▶
Session 4 gave you the three numbers Lumen's first quote turns on. In the meeting each one is said, said back and written once.
| The number | Say it | Say it back |
|---|---|---|
| 2,400 cartons | 两千四百箱 (liǎngqiān sìbǎi xiāng, 2,400 cartons) | 两千四百箱，对吗 (liǎngqiān sìbǎi xiāng, duì ma, 2,400 cartons, is that right) |
| 38,500 yuan | 三万八千五百块 (sānwàn bāqiān wúbǎi kuài, 38,500 yuan) | cut at four digits, 3 | 8500, and write it on the pad |
| Tuesday 20 October | 十月二十号星期二 (shíyuè èrshí hào xīngqī'èr, Tuesday 20 October) | month, then day, then weekday: biggest unit first |
Watch 两 (liǎng, two of) before the measure word and 千 (qiān, thousand), and 二 (èr, two) inside a date. 五百 (wǔbǎi, five hundred) is said wúbǎi because two third tones in a row change the first to a rising tone; the written pinyin keeps wǔ.
Fourteen, not forty. A constructed case. Halfway through the Thursday meeting, Manager Wang gave a handling rate per carton and Lumen's lead heard forty. Session 4's case had gone the other way, and she did not want a second one. She said 请再说一遍 (qǐng zài shuō yí biàn, please say it again), heard 十四块 (shísì kuài, 14 yuan) clearly the second time, wrote 14 on her pad and turned it round. He tapped the pad and said 对 (duì, right). The follow-up that evening put the same 14 in writing.
The WeChat follow-up
5 min liveThe meeting ends; the record starts. The same evening, one short 微信 (Wēixìn, WeChat) message to Manager Wang does three jobs: it thanks him, it names the one next step you agreed, and it gives the date for it in Chinese order. Three lines, each with its English when you draft it. Sending it the same day is common practice in business generally; no source checked for these pages records it as a Chinese custom, so treat it as good practice, not etiquette.
LiveThree lines, three jobs3 min▶
Title first. 王经理您好 (Wáng jīnglǐ nín hǎo, hello, Manager Wang), the same first line session 5 used for the first contact.
One thanks. 谢谢您今天的时间 (xièxie nín jīntiān de shíjiān, thank you for your time today). 今天 (jīntiān, today) is the only new word; 的 (de, possessive) links "today" to "time", as it linked the company to the title in session 2.
The next step, with its date. Name the one thing you agreed and when: 报价十月二十号前发给您 (bàojià shíyuè èrshí hào qián fā gěi nín, we will send you the quote before 20 October). 前 (qián, before) follows the date. If more than one thing was agreed, the most important goes in this message and the rest can follow, as session 5 suggested for requests.
Self-studyIf he replies, and if he does not2 min▶
A short reply such as 好的，谢谢 (hǎo de, xièxie, OK, thank you) closes the loop; you do not need to answer it. If the agreed date moves, say it in full again, as session 5 taught for meeting times: the new date, biggest unit first, in one line.
If there is no reply, that is not a problem in itself: the message is the record, whether or not he answers it. The day before the date in the third line, a one-line reminder in session 5's shape keeps it alive. The register for a formal email, and for the negotiation that follows a quote, is in the Advanced course.
Before you grade yourself: eight rows, each scored 0, 1 or 2 against what you can actually do tonight, not what you understand. This gate is strict on purpose, because a meeting is said once at speaking speed and nobody waits while you look a word up. Anything under 16 of 16 gets another rehearsal before the real meeting.
The whole meeting, then the follow-up
★ 22 min · everyone says itPair up. One of you is Lumen's lead, the other is Manager Wang reading his lines from the boxes; then swap. Say every line standing, with a real card in your hand, and have the partner write down each number they hear. Finish by writing the follow-up and saying the key words to the trainer. Every whole message carries its English beneath it, in brackets.
Walk in and greet. Stand up, nod, and say the title line. Then hold out your card in both hands, Chinese side facing your partner, and take theirs the same way. Read it aloud before you put it down.
Your five lines. Exactly session 2's self-introduction, with your own surname and name. Say it at normal speed, not slowly; slow speech flattens the tones.
The trip, then begin. Your partner asks about the journey; you answer in one line. Then your partner, as host, moves to business. If they pause too long, you say it.
The numbers. Your partner reads the quantity and the price at full speed. Say each back with 对吗 (duì ma, is that right) and write the digits. For one of them, ask for a repeat first, whether or not you caught it: the request is the skill being practised.
Agree the date. Your partner proposes when the quote is due. Say the date back, biggest unit first, and write it as 10/20 on the pad so the order cannot be misread.
Write the follow-up. On your phone's pinyin keyboard, three lines, before you look at the model. Check every character before you would send it: the keyboard will offer other words with the same letters.
Say it to the trainer. Calibrate with mā má mǎ mà, then say all twelve of its words: they include 您好 (nín hǎo, hello, polite), 经理 (jīnglǐ, manager), 公司 (gōngsī, company), 价格 (jiàgé, price) and 开会 (kāihuì, have a meeting), the ones you will say in the first five minutes. The trainer's list writes changed tones, as in 不是 (bú shì, is not) and 一定 (yídìng, certainly). For the phrases not on its list, your partner's written numbers and date are the check.
Rehearse it with your hands full. The words are not the hard part. Saying them standing, holding a card and a notepad, with someone looking at you, is the part that needs practice. Run the whole script three times tonight, swapping roles each time.
Before your real first meeting
30 min- Score the gate again after three days of practice, and rehearse only the rows below 2. Each row names the session to go back to.
- Write your own script for a meeting you actually have coming up: the real title of the person, your own five lines, and the one number most likely to be misheard.
- Say the trainer's twelve words once a day for a week, calibrating each time, until all twelve are heard right on the first attempt.
- Draft the follow-up before the meeting, leaving the date blank. After the meeting you fill in one date and send it the same day.
Three questions
Clear all three and session 6 gets stamped in your passport.
1 · You have just walked into the meeting room. What comes first?
Address by surname and title and the two-handed card exchange are the two practices the business Chinese sources describe. 我们开始吧 (wǒmen kāishǐ ba, shall we begin) closes the first five minutes; it does not open them. The five-move order is common practice.
2 · Manager Wang gives a price and you are not sure whether he said fourteen or forty. What do you do?
十四 (shísì, fourteen) and 四十 (sìshí, forty) are the classic misheard pair from session 4. Asking, saying it back and writing the digits fixes it in the room, where a follow-up cannot. Asking for a repeat is common practice in any meeting, not a breach of etiquette.
3 · What goes in the WeChat follow-up, and when?
Three short lines sent the same day put the one agreed step and its date in writing while both sides remember the meeting. The shape and the timing are common practice, not a documented rule; the title first is session 5's WeChat habit.
What this session teaches, and where it came from
Every fact on this page, and its verification tier, is recorded in the course's source map.
Session 6 cheat sheet · pin this
You can now get through a first meeting and put its outcome in writing. The same partnership continues in Learn Business Chinese Advanced with Phoebe ↗: the register of 贵公司 (guì gōngsī, your company, polite), a negotiation over the quote, and a formal email. Everything else on the shelf is at Learn with Phoebe ↗.