This study presents a conceptual model to examine the discourse of initial business negotiation meetings between members of New Zealand and Chinese corporations. The findings suggest that a successful negotiation meeting constructs and elaborates intercultural alliances via proper usage of moves and strategies. Negotiations may, however, go wrong if improper moves and strategies are employed, and possible conflicts and communication breakdowns are not addressed in time. Firstly, it develops a conceptual position where negotiation meetings require mutual effort for building intercultural alliances. Secondly, the application and further division of initial moves (initiating moves-relational [IM-R] and initiating move-transactional [IM-T]), responding moves (responding move-cooperative [RM-C] and responding move-uncooperative [RM-UC]), and strategies into politeness strategies (PS) and uncooperative strategies (UC-S) offer an in-depth analysis of the nuances of positioning construction between parties. The findings indicate that a successful negotiation meeting establishes and develops intercultural alliances through appropriate use of moves and strategies. Negotiations, however, derail if inappropriate moves and strategies are used, and potential conflicts and communication breakdowns are not addressed in time.