应酬

• Pinyin: yìng chou
• Hanzi breakdown: 应 = 广 + 应 (respond to what is required); 酬 = 酉 + 州 (wine vessel + phonetic — ritual toast, exchange)

Meaning

To socialise for business purposes; to entertain clients or associates. As a noun: social obligations, business entertainment, wining and dining.

A culturally loaded term in Chinese professional life. 应酬 refers to the obligatory social engagements — dinners, banquets, drinking — that are central to building and maintaining business relationships (关系). Can carry a slightly negative connotation of being tiresome or performative, but is widely accepted as a necessary part of professional life.

Examples

1. 作为省行行长，他每周要参加三四个晚上的客户宴请和政务晚宴，长期应酬让身体明显吃不消。 As a provincial bank branch president, he had to attend customer banquets and government dinners on three or four nights each week, and the long-term social obligations had clearly worn down his health.
2. 创始人说，创业早期最耗精力的不是研发，而是频繁应酬，因为饭局背后牵涉复杂的人际维护。 The founder said that in the early stage of the startup, what consumed the most energy was not product development but frequent social engagements, because every meal involved complex relationship maintenance.
3. 近年商业文化变化后，高档宴请式应酬渐少，商务午餐和视频会议更常见，但传统行业里仍很有影响。 In recent years, as business culture has changed, formal high-end banquet-style socializing has decreased, and business lunches and video meetings are more common, but it still has strong influence in traditional industries.

Usage Guide

Context: business, social, culture, professional life

Tone: pragmatic

Do Say

• 这位从总部调到地方任总经理的高管说，初到任最大挑战不是业务，而是拿捏应酬分寸。(This executive, transferred from headquarters to serve as general manager of a local branch, said that the biggest challenge on arrival was not business, but learning how to handle social obligations appropriately.)
• 现代企业越来越把差旅和应酬费纳入合规审查，每笔外部宴请都要说明业务关联并经上级批准。(Modern companies are increasingly putting travel and entertainment expenses under compliance review, requiring each outside dining expense to explain its business relevance and receive approval from a supervisor.)

Don't Say

• 我们去应酬一下朋友 — 应酬 specifically refers to professional/business social obligations; for casual socialising with friends say 我们去聚一聚 or 我们约出来吃顿饭

Origin & History

应 (to respond/handle — 广 + 应, respond to what is required) + 酬 (to toast/repay — 酉 wine vessel + 州 phonetic, originally the ritual exchange of toasts at a banquet)

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Professional