SHE in China: How important is it for a foreigner to be able to speak/understand Chinese when doing business in China?

SHE in China: How important is it for a foreigner to be able to speak/understand Chinese when doing business in China?
Jonna Wibelius's question reminds me the worried words from Wesley, Professor at University of Dayton:

I’ve lead a semester-long study abroad to Asia for several years that of course included China so I speak from experience on the ground. The reality is that the Chinese know about us as Americans while we know virtually nothing about them. More importantly, the knowledge that the Chinese have developed about Americans helps them to understand us while it’s equally plain that our lack of knowledge about the Chinese means we don’t have a clue about who they are as a people and as a culture. Today’s educated Chinese are proficient in spoken and written English; few Americans have equivalent skills in Mandarin and therefore, lack equivalent understanding of the Chinese.

American students are quite surprised (and pleased) how easy it is for them to be in major Chinese cities because of the prevalence of English. However, the ease with which they travel and order food is a direct result of China’s national focus on the mastery of English, and this ease masks the more important reality — the Chinese are developing a strategic advantage because they understand Americans while Americans are perfectly content to remain ignorant of the Chinese.

While perhaps only an interesting anecdote today, this difference in cultural understanding may well be the fulcrum of change for world prominence, power, and more importantly, influence when extrapolated over the next 30 to 40 years, that is, within the working life of today’s university student. As a matter of national policy, America should focus its attention (and its funding) on understanding other cultures, particularly China. However, if past is indeed prologue, our attention to the link between understanding another culture and our national and economic security will come only after it’s too late. Clearly, the Chinese already understand this link.