The article discusses the importance of personal networks in opening up the contemporary Chinese economy to market forces. Instead of disappearing in the process of economic reform, the system of guanxi- a word signifying interpersonal connections based on mutual help- has actually strengthened hugely, becoming a crucial emic element in the development of business among the most diverse economic spheres, both local and global. This sui generis mode brings together authorities and business people- who form the country's new elite- and reproduces traditional gift ceremonies in new ways. Using an ethnographic methodology, zI discuss the topic through the presentation of three cases illustrating my process of making guanxi during fieldwork in Guangdong Province
China; Guanxi; Gift; Chinese Capitalism; Ethnography