I think it's a societal thing that shapes behaviour. In China, you're taught at a very young age that nice guys finish last, and you have to always fend for yourself if you want to get ahead in life. They have the mentality that you lose out to other people if you don't always look out for yourself first.
And unlike say the Japanese (who are super polite), I think Chinese people generally lack the discipline, as well the love for their country (ie Japanese always feel they don't want to bring shame to their country by behaving bad).
Might just be a side effect of having a communist government, I don't know. But I have seen state commercials and ads on educating Chinese people on proper etiquette. Not sure how effective it is though.
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