Unusual Chinese Connections (a.k.a. Guanxi)

Has the nature of Guanxi changed in the post-COVID era of doing business in China?

Thirteen years ago, my personal driver in Shanghai invited my wife and me to a lavish, relatively speaking, dinner party to celebrate my birthday with his relatives. This dinner celebration is unusual for any Western leader assigned a driver in China because these drivers usually lack the Guanxi or cultural incentive to suggest such a gesture to their clients. In the Chinese hierarchical system, the higher-level person usually organizes and pays for these occasions.

Why did my driver, XiaoHe (小何), insist on this overture, and what were the reciprocal personal benefits, referred to 利益 (Lìyì), in Chinese?

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