Giving a gift is such an enjoyable challenge - it combines all the great traits of good business, such as understanding, creativity, and added value, and is the perfect excuse to cross that fine and delicate boundary between professional and personal. I love it.

In fact, this habit or custom is not restricted to China, but is pretty much global. For me, there is only good gift giving and bad gift giving but I never doubt the value of presenting a gift to express both my personality and my gratitude for the important people in my life.

I feel that this behavior may have developed before human beings started communicating verbally to show emotions.

In a business context, gift giving can serve as an ice-breaker when you are new to a relationship. It can provoke an emotion, or even call for an action. It is also a good way to show goodwill, to gauge a personality so as to win trust over time. Sometimes if you know you are the recipient of a gift because the giver wants a favor you are unable to render, you may return the gift to get that message across.

When the first Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum was held in Seattle in 1993, president Bill Clinton handed bomber jackets to all leaders to don for the group photo. The following year APEC was held in Indonesia, and president Suharto prepared traditional batik shirts for all leaders for a group photo. This unique chic fashion gift from the hosting member of APEC became a nice tradition for years.

Personally, I love the 2005 Seoul meeting at which all leaders were dressed in hanboks, looking more like a dress than a shirt. Although that may leave some leaders feeling out of their depth, I am sure it would have been a great ice-breaker for the group to chat about South Korea's culture.

When you think about the picture it presents, do you also see an unspoken message? Openness. The message was delivered to the world through a group of leaders wearing ethnic outfits from one member and we all know openness is the foundation to building consensus.

I was once in a client's annual planning workshop in Shanghai with participants flying in from many different markets around the world. At the end of the workshop the host team prepared a crystal chop, or seal, for everyone with their names engraved on it.

The workshop organizer, who was the global head of communications, then said, "I would like everyone to remember all the hard work we've been through together like an engraved seal. Now, let's make our commitment as a group by stamping your seal on this board, which writes our pledge."

Everyone had a nice color crystal seal with their name on it to take home to remember China as the meeting location; they would also remember the commitment they made.

From a communicator's standpoint, everything starts with the goal you want to achieve. Gift giving is also a form of communication. Therefore, taking a moment to consider how the receiver will interpret your gift and react to your message is important when you select it.

It is not rocket science to figure out that gift giving is ideally personal. Spending time analyzing your target is always a rewarding exercise to go through. Gifts also speak for you. I love buying gifts that give me a good chance to take a moment to really think about the person I am giving the gift to and let him or her know more about me.

If you need to give a birthday gift for someone who recently changed job, you may want to prepare something that implies immediate success. If you happen to be an arts lover or you are an artist outside your day job, giving something like a painting with running horses can be a good idea as running horses symbolize "win success immediately upon arrival" in the Chinese idiom, and it gives away your artistic hobby. It not only delivers a good wish for this person's latest status but offers an angle to start a conversation about yourself.

There are certain traditional gift-giving festivals in China such as Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival. Mid-Autumn Festival is a holiday for people to get together with their family on the August full moon day of the lunar calendar. The traditional festive food is moon cake. If you ask people who live and work in China, many will probably tell you they have become annoyed by the numerous moon cakes coming through their doors every year. And if you ask them who sent the moon cakes I bet most will have forgotten or cannot recite a full list. So why bother?

One company that I have worked with as a partner for a long time is smart enough to send fresh fruit in very nice packages to clients instead of moon cakes for Mid-Autumn Festival. They would write in the greeting card something like, "We know it's time to have delicious moon cakes with your family. We think these seasonal fruits will go nicely with them."

People tend not to forget who sent something different and thoughtful like that. And the underlying messages are: we are different, we are creative and we put ourselves in your shoes.

I heard a story about a spirit brand recently. It decided to import just 2,000 bottles of a limited edition of whiskey into the Chinese market and give them as a gift to loyal customers and distributors. Each bottle has a unique number correlating with the receiver's birthday. With such a personal touch, the gift is suddenly worth much more than its real price.

One important thing to note is that Chinese people believe in reciprocity for courtesy. When you have a newborn, people may give your baby a piece of gold jewelry such as a bracelet or a gold ornament with the baby's zodiac animal. In return, the parents prepare red eggs (eggs dyed in red color) or cakes for the gift givers so they can take something home as well.

There are some do nots of gift-giving in China. Most people are aware of the red envelopes tradition. People give red envelopes to singles and children during Chinese New Year or when they attend a wedding banquet. The amount of money you put in the red envelopes depends on your financial status and how close you are to that person, but you should always avoid odd numbers and number 4. Chinese people also do not like to receive clocks because the common word for clock is a homophone for a word meaning ending, and by extension the end of life.

Umbrellas and fans are not great gifts either because the words used to denote them sound similar to words meaning separation or the end of a relationship.

I know many people condemn the fact that nowadays giving gifts puts a premium on monetary value. Chinese people consume so much Lafite (wine from Chateau Lafite Rothschild) and Moutai (Chinese white liquor), and most of that comes in the form of gifts. The price of these premium alcohols can range from 1,000 yuan ($150; 120 euros) to 10,000 yuan, or even higher.

My view on this is that the motivation counts. If it is transactional, the value is likely to predominate, and the receiver will not remember who gave the premium bottle of wine because he or she may receive many of them anyway.

In China, people believe in showing courtesy and goodwill to each other before forming a business partnership. Before they sign a deal they need to know the person they are doing business with, not just the company whose name is on the contract.

So I suggest spending time studying the person's lifestyle, personality and hobbies and then matching that with the desired impression you want to leave with and add in your personal flavor. After all, the thought behind a gift will leave a much longer impression than will the figure on a price tag.

The author is managing director of Text 100 China, a PR company. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily 02/03/2012 page15)