The Role of Guanxi in Buyer-seller Relationships in China: A Survey of Vegetable Supply Chains in Jiangsu Province

Using social, organisational and economic theories, this book develops an integrated research framework to demonstrate the effects of Chinese traditional guanxi networks on modern business relationships and market performance. It also compares the effects of guanxi networks between upstream and downstream partnerships and between traditional and high-value market outlets. It is recognised that quality and safety issues are the major constraints for Chinese vegetables entering into international markets.Primary producers face several bottlenecks such as small production scales, lack of market information and low negotiation power which leads to their exclusion by high-value market outlets such as supermarkets and international markets. Processing and exporting companies, on the other hand, experience instable delivery and inconsistent quality supply. As a result, they remain low-cost exporters in a low-quality segment of international markets. Different solutions for small-scale vegetable farmers, processing companies, exporting companies, and supermarkets in optimising their business performance are also covered. This book is of interest to professionals and practitioners involved in the design, management and assessment of national and international supply chains for perishable products in particular in transition economies.