No. Sociologists call Mandarin Chinese a “high context” language to indicate that there is more to the message than just the words being spoken or written. You have to pay attention to the situation, environmental factors and history to understand the real meaning. For example, when you are speaking at a meeting with Chinese people, a Chinese businessman might say "yes" which probably means "I've heard you", it does not mean "I understood, comprehended and this is what I will do".

Nodding is the same. Sometimes a Chinese nods his/her head just to suggest that he/she is listening to the speaker, but not to mean he/she agrees with the speaker.

When asked a direct question by a Westerner, a Chinese might answer “yes” to save the Westerner’s face, but the true meaning is “no” and he/she might act as if he/she has said “no.”