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So, I am reviewing the following words, which are either 业-related or business related. Some I have got sorted, while the ones at the bottom (see ***) are a bit confusing.

So, 产业 means industry (n.), industrial (adj.) / 产业化 (industrialisation), 产业工人 (industrial workers) / property (n.) (那些工厂都是我的产业)

Within this, there are different types of industry:

行业 service industry (catering, hotel, tourist)

工业 manufacturing industry

商业 commercial industry

农业 agricultural industry

And these industries all contain 企业, i.e. (private) companies.

All the workers have a 职业 (profession) and some of them have 专业 (a specialisation), until they are made 失业 (unemployed)

Other 业 words include: 作业 homework, 业余 in one’s spare time, outside working hours, amateur (只有业余运动员能参加奥运会)

***So this is where I get confused. The following words all seem to mean 'to do business': 营业， 经商， 贸易， 业务. How do these words fit into the context of the vocabulary listed above?

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  • This could potentially be a nice question, I suggest rewording this for a bit more focus, instead of asking readers to “chip in”.
    – dROOOze
    Commented Feb 11, 2020 at 14:08
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    Edited as suggested
    – Hashamyim
    Commented Feb 11, 2020 at 14:24
  • I'm unclear on what an answer would look like here: if someone looked up the definitions of 营业, 经商, 贸易, and 业务 and copy/pasted into an answer, would that answer the question? [The answer should be "no", but I don't see how.] (Maybe the underling question is about the difference between these words and 工业 and 商业?)
    – Becky 李蓓 ♦
    Commented Feb 11, 2020 at 14:35
  • Well, to give an example 营业 is in the dictionary as 'to do trade' so I guess that a 企业 can 营业 - 这家营业2008年以来营业 - can you say that? But then 经商 also appears in the dictionary as 'to do trade', so can you also say 这家营业2008年以来经商？？Meanwhile 贸易 is in the dictionary as ‘to do (commercial) trade’, so you presumably can also say 这家营业2008年以来贸易 - but then what is the difference between these three, and is 业务 (to do business) different in a whole new different way?
    – Hashamyim
    Commented Feb 11, 2020 at 14:42

2 Answers 2

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營業 means your business unit do provide service to others. There is time you need to stop provide service. For example, you pause your service for a while strategically, your employee need holiday, you need time to prepare things before start the service. On the time you provide your service, I can say 營業中. 這家餐廳有在營業(This restaurant provide service), 這家餐廳打烊了(This restaurant have closed). The examples provided above show this different meaning. So you can know 營業 is totally different from 打烊.

經商 means do trading. If I use tradition Chinese to explain it, I will say 從事商業.

貿易 means trading across different country.

業務 means things you need to do in work. Don't confused with 業務員. It means someone who try to sale things to other.

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  • Ah, brilliant - that clears it up - thanks for the input!
    – Hashamyim
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 12:03
  • Hey 000 - don't suppose you have similar input on how to use 商务? The business-related words in HSK5 are endless!!
    – Hashamyim
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 18:18
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  1. Sorry, you have made a mistake. The service industry means 服务业， here industry already means 行业。
  2. you know, Chinese characters always have lots of information. The 业 can be related to study, industry, job, even name and so on. They are different categories. For all the words you list here, I have a tip maybe can be helpful. I think 业 always related to something that is processize and systematize.
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