From my dealings with Chinese investors, I can tell you they all are tough negotiators, very smart and well educated. Sure most of them may not speak English very well, but try learning Chinese!
Yes, buying up names in other extensions is probably not the most sensible thing you can do right now unless you know what you are doing and know what the Chinese are after (premium numerics)
Stick with COM in this case, this is not like buying dictionary gTLDs ..
