Besides a general cultural preference for subtlety, it plays an important role for etiquette. In particular, it features heavily in communications but also relates to the concept of humility, which is a virtue as deemed by Confucianism.
In terms of communications, there are a lot of things left unsaid or implied. Double entendres are a more prominent component in Chinese compared to, say, English. Chinese people also devise ways to soften a “no” for whatever reasons that an English speaker isn’t restricted by.
As for humility, Chinese tend to not react to a compliment with a “Thank you” but rather a type of “You must be mistaken” comment.
Of course, subtlety goes way deeper than this, such as me always being hitched up about subtlety when I write fiction. But in terms of subtlety and etiquette, I think I have provided the broad sketch. Let me know via comments if you want to discuss anything in further details.
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