Abstract: With the development of economy, business cooperation between China and America becomes more and more frequent. Business etiquette is a code of practice. Under different historical and cultural backgrounds, there are many differences between China and America in business etiquette. So, in this paper, the author tries to compare the differences between Chinese and American business etiquette, mainly about table manners and find the corresponding reasons inside as table manners are very important in both China and America. Meanwhile, it tries to put forward some recommendations in order to make Chinese business communication with Americans more smoothly. As we know, the difference of business etiquette will influence the success of international trade between our two countries.

Key words: business etiquette; cultural differences; recommendations ; table manners