Translation result.
At Chinese banquet tables, unfamiliar faces often sit among the guests. Hosts usually omit any explanation of who those people are or why they’ve been invited. Instead, the host offers a short label: “zìjǐrén (自己人, ‘one of our own’).” That single phrase explains the reason for attending and immediately defines each person’s standing.
zìjǐrén isn’t merely a mark of intimacy. It designates who falls inside the circle of trust. In China, people don’t give lengthy introductions for a friend’s friend—one declaration of zìjǐrén suffices. To Koreans, that can come across as abrupt.
Many still understand guanxi (關係, guānxi) as a social ritual tied to drinking and personal ties: become friends first, share a toast, and business will follow. That approach worked in an earlier era. Today’s dynamic is far colder. Even while laughing and clinking glasses, people simultaneously assess a person’s skills, resources, reputation, influence and potential value. If those assets don’t balance, mere friendliness won’t move a deal.
For that reason, introducing someone as zìjǐrén is not a casual favor; the introducer stakes their own credibility. The recommendation follows only after a careful review of the person’s capabilities and risks. zìjǐrén functions less as an affectionate label than as a powerful endorsement. Many share drinks; few earn recognition as zìjǐrén.
Those vetted zìjǐrén link together to form networks called quanzi (圈子, “inner circles”). Inside a quanzi, people whose value and trustworthiness are verified exchange information, opportunities, capital and influence first. In China, quanzi often resolve problems more quickly than official channels, and many transactions and business opportunities are first routed through these networks.
This mechanism shows up in corporate growth as well. Major companies such as Trip.com and Pinduoduo reveal internal trust networks, and emerging tech firms like DeepSeek and Unitree display the same pattern. People verified through school ties, hometown ties, alumni links and career networks connect first; within those ties, decision costs fall and execution accelerates. Apart from scale, the principles that move corporate organizations and individual businesses are largely the same.
The change is not just a shift in social customs; it restructures how opportunities flow through China’s market. In the past, having many contacts was an advantage; now, the quanzi you belong to matters more. Outsiders receive information later, and opportunities have often already been allocated elsewhere. Where you are connected matters more than how many connections you have. This structure is not confined to elite circles; in different sizes and forms it operates the same way in local communities and small businesses. The weight of being recognized as zìjǐrén cuts across class.
The old advice—to become friends before doing business with Chinese counterparts—still holds. But today’s “friend” is not merely someone you drink with; it’s someone who can be recognized as zìjǐrén. Guanxi has not vanished; it has been reorganized into a verification system. What works in China now is verified guanxi.
– Choi Yeo-jin, CEO of MaxValue Capital; doctoral candidate in international communication at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
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