article: As soon as they stepped out of the wreckage, Mr Yu told Mr Deng not to worry, as he would take care of it. "So I know what kind of person he is. Through those kinds of intimate scenarios we can definitely know each other very well," says Mr Deng. Mr Yu is chairman of the New Oriental Group, one of China's biggest educational service businesses, and Mr Deng is chair of Northern Light Venture Capital, a Chinese venture capital firm. Both are members of the exclusive China Entrepreneur Club (CEC), a not-for-profit group of 46 of China's top entrepreneurs and business leaders. Already good friends from their membership of the club, which includes trips to each other's workplaces, nights out and annual trips abroad together, their experience that day was a classic example of having so-called good "guanxi". Roughly translated as "relationships" or "connections", it is a crucial part of life in China. Having good "guanxi" - a wide network of mutually beneficial relationships developed outside the formal work setting, for instance at evening meals or over drinks - is often the secret to securing a business deal. Mr Yu, who is on the board of the CEC, says it is because of this that the number of CEC members is limited. The small group size ensures people can really get to know one another, build close connections and ultimately help each other out. "We have had a lot of occasions for example, when members are in trouble or got into difficulty the entire club is behind a person, or we divert a lot of time to help that particular member through a difficult time," says fellow CEC member Charles Chao, the chairman and chief executive of online media firm Sina Corporation. The favours are reciprocal - if a person helps somebody out, he or she will expect to be repaid at some point. To those in the West, where you can secure a deal through formal meetings even if you don't know someone, this "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" way of doing business can seem improper. Yet views that it is a negative activity, often linked to corruption, are misplaced, says Mr Deng, who emphasises that guanxi is a "neutral" word. He points out that the Chinese generally tend to be less private and socialise more with their colleagues than their Western counterparts, and doing deals this way is a natural extension of that. While guanxi is obviously open to abuse, it is only corrupt if the activity performed as part of the relationship is illegal, for example, paying a bribe. Leadership expert Steve Tappin says it's simply part of the "social fabric" in China. "It's very difficult to get things done without it," he adds. In fact most business leaders say it's downright impossible. "Right now in China, no matter how strong or how smart an entrepreneur is, as long as he does not belong to the business community, does not have a lot of friends who may help him, he's not gonna win for long,"
summary: When Chinese entrepreneurs Deng Feng and Michael Yu took a BMW out for a test drive together, they managed to get into an accident and completely destroy the car.