Renqing is someone who knows the Chinese party well and has already built strong guanxi with the decision-maker. Renqing means social currency in China.
Lian means “sense of shame in relation to social standards of morality and behavior”, while mianzi means “status, prestige, social position”. A person may have mianzi and yet have no lian. Lian reflects the legitimacy that an individual has within a given society.