How jítǐ juécè actually works
In Chinese organisations — state-owned enterprises, large private companies, and government-linked bodies in particular — significant decisions are not made by individuals. They are made by a process of staged consultation that works both upward (securing sign-off from senior levels) and horizontally (ensuring the relevant departments have been consulted and have not objected). The Chinese term for the formal version of this process is héyí (习议) — “circulating for agreement” — in which a proposal literally travels around an organisation gathering endorsement stamps before it is considered decided.
The foreign counterpart sees none of this internal process. They see their contact, who is warm and engaged, but who consistently cannot commit, confirm, or provide a timeline. The contact is not stalling — they genuinely do not know when the process will complete. The process is running in parallel with the meetings, invisible to the outside, and will produce its answer when it produces it.
“In a Chinese organisation, a decision is not made when the person you are meeting agrees. It is made when everyone who needs to have agreed has agreed. Your contact agreeing is usually the beginning of that process, not the end of it.”
— China operations consultant, field interview
Héyí (习议 — circulating for review) is the formal administrative procedure by which proposals move through Chinese organisations. A document is prepared, circulated to relevant departments and levels, each of which endorses, modifies, or objects. Objections must be resolved before the document advances. The final endorsement — the chéngbào (告寸) to the highest relevant authority — completes the process. This system produces highly legible decision trails but operates on timelines that are determined by the complexity of the proposal and the number of levels it must traverse, not by the urgency of the external party.
The five stages of a collective decision
The progression below maps a typical jítǐ juécè process as it runs in parallel with your external engagement. Understanding where in this process a decision currently sits tells you what is actually happening — and what actions on your part will help or hinder.
Your proposal has been received and is being assessed by the contact level. The contact is forming their own view and deciding whether to sponsor it internally. No internal process has started yet.
Making the proposal easy for your contact to champion internally — clear benefits, low-effort internal case, material they can use in their own conversations upward.
Proposals that are complex to explain, that create obvious objections for other departments, or that your contact is not personally motivated to champion.
The proposal is circulating at the contact’s level and among adjacent departments who would be affected. Concerns are being raised and addressed. Your contact may not share any of this with you.
Having addressed obvious departmental concerns in the original proposal. If new concerns emerge, addressing them quickly and without drama when your contact raises them.
An unresolved objection from any participating department. The process cannot advance until objections are resolved — and your contact may not be able to tell you which department is holding.
The proposal has cleared departmental review and is being referred upward for senior sign-off. This stage may involve multiple levels depending on the size and significance of the decision.
Senior-level relationship investment on your side that pre-positions the proposal favourably. A warm signal from your senior counterpart to the decision-making level can significantly accelerate this stage.
Competing priorities at the senior level, political considerations within the organisation that are entirely invisible to you, or the need for additional information that your contact did not know would be required.
The decision-making authority has reviewed the proposal and has endorsed it. The endorsement triggers the formal instruction downward to proceed. This is the moment the process completes — though you may not be told immediately.
Nothing on your side — this stage is entirely internal. Your job now is to be ready to move quickly when the decision is communicated, because the internal process completing often produces a sudden external urgency.
A condition being attached to the endorsement that requires further action — additional information, a modification to the proposal, or a parallel approval from a different authority.
The contact communicates the decision to you. The commitment is now real, is backed by internal consensus, and is very unlikely to be reversed. The decision that arrives at this stage is durable in a way that a single individual’s commitment would not be.
After weeks or months of apparent stasis, things move fast. Meetings are scheduled quickly, documents are requested urgently, timelines compress. The internal process has been running all along; its completion changes the tempo entirely.
Be ready for the acceleration. Foreign counterparts who have been waiting for a decision and are not prepared to move quickly when it arrives frustrate Chinese counterparts who have just completed a lengthy internal process on their behalf.
What accelerates the process and what resets it
Actions that help the internal process move
- Senior-level contact on your side that pre-positions the proposal at the decision-making level before the formal referral arrives
- A proposal that has already addressed the obvious departmental objections — reducing the volume of internal debate required
- Making your contact’s internal sponsorship task easy: clear materials, simple summary of benefits, answers to the questions they will be asked
- Patience and calm during the silent phases — pressure applied to the contact creates face problems that slow, not speed, the internal process
- Being ready to move immediately when the decision arrives — which signals seriousness and validates the organisation’s investment in the process
Actions that restart or derail the process
- Changing the proposal materially after the process has started — the revised version must traverse the entire process again from the point where the change was introduced
- Going over your contact’s head to a more senior level without their knowledge — this creates a face problem for your contact and may trigger a protective organisational response
- Applying visible time pressure to the contact — this either forces an uncommitted answer or creates resentment that slows the process
- Introducing a new requirement or condition just before the final stage — the process must now accommodate the new element
- Being unavailable or slow to respond when the decision finally arrives and questions must be answered quickly