WeChat and staying in touch
加个微信吧。 ("let's add each other on WeChat") is how a Chinese business relationship actually continues — not email. Scan each other's QR code before you leave the room, and send a short message the same evening: relationships in China are maintained in the chat window, not the inbox.
What actually happens
WeChat is not an app in the Western sense; it is the operating layer of Chinese social and commercial life. Colleagues, suppliers, clients, landlords and taxi drivers are all reached the same way, and a business contact who has your email but not your WeChat is, in practical terms, not a contact. Add people in the room, while you are still standing next to them.
The etiquette is light but real. Send a short message the same evening — a thank-you and one concrete thing you will do — because a follow-up 24 hours later has already gone cold. Use your real name and a plain profile photo; people identify you from the contact list before they read the message. Voice messages are normal and often preferred by Chinese counterparts, though written messages are kinder to a non-native reader, so it is fine to say so.
Two features surprise Westerners. Group chats are the default working space for a project, and being added to one is a good sign, not spam. And 红包 (hóngbāo — digital red packets) are used socially in group chats around festivals; small amounts are a friendly gesture and nothing more. Sending a large one to an individual counterparty is not a gesture — it can look like something else entirely, so keep it to the group and keep it small.
What they'll say back to you
Understanding the reply is the half of the conversation phrasebooks skip. These are the lines you will actually hear in this situation — learn to recognise them, not to say them.
What to say
Adding someone
The follow-up message
Managing the chat
Small talk that builds the relationship
The bit that isn't language
Rename every new contact the moment you add them — surname, title and company (王总-深圳电子). WeChat display names are frequently nicknames or single characters, and after a week of a sourcing trip an unnamed contact list is unusable.
Quick quiz — 5 questions
Five questions built from the phrases above: you get the English, you pick the Chinese. No sign-up, no score kept — just a check that they have stuck.
How do you say this?
Common mistakes
| ✗ What visitors do | ✓ What works | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Exchanging email addresses and leaving | Adding WeChat in the room | An emailed follow-up to someone who lives in WeChat can sit unread for a week. The QR scan takes four seconds and is the difference between a contact and a card. |
| Following up three days later | Messaging the same evening | The meeting is still fresh for both of you on the night. Three days on, you are competing with everything that happened since. |
| Sending a large red packet to an individual | Small ones, in the group, at festivals | Group red packets are a cheerful social custom. A large private transfer to a business counterparty reads very differently and can put someone in an awkward position. |
WeChat and staying in touch — frequently asked questions
Do I need WeChat to do business in China?
Effectively yes. It is where messages, files, group projects and payments live, and a contact who has only your email is at a real disadvantage in reaching you. Install it before you travel and complete verification then — some accounts need an existing user to vouch for a new one.
What should my WeChat follow-up message say?
Keep it short and send it the same evening: thank them for their time, name one concrete thing you'll do, and give a date. "今天很高兴认识您。资料我明天发给您。" is a complete and effective message. Long formal emails are for attachments, not for keeping a relationship warm.
What is a 红包 (hóngbāo) on WeChat?
A digital red packet — a small sum of money sent in a chat, usually in a group and usually around a festival, where it is opened as a game. It is a social gesture, not a payment. Keep business ones small and public; a large private one to a counterparty can be read as something quite different.
Is it rude to ask for text instead of voice messages?
Not at all. Voice messages are the Chinese default, but asking 可以发文字吗？(kěyǐ fā wénzì ma) is a normal request, especially from a non-native speaker — reading Chinese is far easier than parsing fast spoken Chinese in a noisy street.
Next
Before you fly
Work through the whole trip in Ready for a trip to China in 30 days, play Travel Survival Sprint to make the phrases automatic, practise saying them aloud in Airport Roleplay, or look up anything else in the Chinese → Pinyin translator.