Personal contacts and saving face are key to sealing the deal in China. Where Westerners tend to look for clear alternatives (option A instead of option B), the Chinese may examine ways to combine both options, writes Christopher Crosby in CNN Traveller.

Even though many of us all like to point out to our colleagues – or respond with a friendly nod when they mention it – how much more strategic the procurement function has become in recent years, I’d argue that in most cases, the actual planning tools and mechanisms by which we create and deploy new strategies in the business haven’t changed a bit in most cases.

Public sector procurement is big business. According to statistics published by the European Union, European governments buy goods and services worth up to about 20 percent of their collective gross domestic product, or EUR 1.52 trillion.