Introduction to Chinese business

First of all, I am not proclaiming to being an expert on doing business with China. I am just attempting to share my personal experiences and give some perspective on what I have observed.
My experiences are from dealing with companies in the electronics manufacturing
and sales sector of China. Other business sector's may do business differently.

I got introduced to doing business China through membership in several international trade associations. I was looking for sources of computer and electronic products.
After making inquiries with many companies, I received responses that included pricelists and product information.
The Chinese companies had a contact person that could speak and write English. Their skill in the English language ranged from fair to fairly good.
Almost all of the contacts were female university graduates that had studied English and International Trade. It seems that the women had an easier time learning English or the men preferred to stay in the background and let the women handle the communication tasks.
I found that if you are patient enough to open communications with them beyond just email, they are thrilled to get a chance to practice and improve their language skills.