From Fareed Zakaria’s “The Post American World“:

Western businessmen have often noted that their Chinese counterparts seem to place less stock in rules, laws and contracts. Their sense of ethics is more situational. . . . Social relations and trust are far more important than paper commitments. Microsoft could not get Beijing to enforce its IP laws for years – until the company spent time and effort developing a relationship with the government . . . Once Microsoft had convinced the Chinese government of its benign intentions, those same laws began to get enforced.”