What are the major risks of doing business in China? 

• The U.S. alone imposed over $2 billion in total fines in 2009 and 2010 for FCPA violations.  China is a dangerous place to do business still.
• Reverse mergers - Chinese companies are using U.S. and Canadian shell companies to create massive stock fraud schemes.
• Chinese courts are often corrupt and often not receptive to Western organizations.
• Theft of intellectual property continues to be a major problem for companies entering emerging nations, especially in China. 
• Employment and labor laws continue to baffle companies engaged in emerging markets like China.

CHINA

Corruption may have abated in China, as the government claims to have initiated tens of thousands of prosecutions against corrupt officials.  The government just last month launched a web site to begin to more quickly respond to complaints about judicial corruption at jubao.court.gov.cn.  

The Chinese middle class in China may already exceed the entire U.S. population.  The Chinese middle class and its thirst for products and to a lesser extent, services, continue to provide a significant opportunity for companies entering the Chinese markets.  Demand for luxury goods, cars, appliances, better food and wine and more, is expected to rise dramatically in the next five years and far beyond. 

Recent worker and migrant uprisings against the government may be a harbinger for more unrest, which likely will cause increases in labor costs.

Water is still a major problem.  Factories and businesses are paying more and more for that precious commodity.

Reports from China revealed that gmail accounts and other communications methods often used by western businessmen are being blocked.  Somehow these efforts have not had a material impact on China's stature as the most important global market, but stay tuned.  Something has got to give.