"Even if they have not had a chance to go outside of China, they have a much more international outlook," he said.

Tse at Booz and Co said that whether foreign companies entered China five or 10 years ago or now, it has always been one of the more difficult foreign markets.

"If an American company goes to Europe or a European company goes to the US there are differences but the differences are not as great as when they go to China. It has the longest continuous civilization in the world and the culture and the way of doing things is very different," he said.

"China is not only an old nation but a new nation, which in my mind came into being when the veteran Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping visited Shenzhen in 1992 (when he called for the creation of a socialist market economy). It is a very odd combination."

Wu Changqi, professor of strategic management at Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, said it is difficult to make a case it is harder to enter China now than in the past because it was never easy in the first place.

"The Chinese market has never been an easy market for multinationals. Companies which have come to China have always needed to do a lot of homework and preparation. It is not easy to do business here," he said.

Wu adds there are areas where it has become easier rather than harder in recent years.

"There have been a lot of improvements institutionally. The government is more transparent. Government bureaucrats have become more competent and professional.

China too, to some extent, has become more integrated into the global economy, " he said.

"China's speed of business development is so rapid it is not really for the faint hearted. You need much more of a long- term vision to succeed in China compared with other emerging markets."

Roy Newey, group board director of A4e, a services business which helps people who are unemployed get back into work, is someone not daunted by the prospect of entering China.

The Sheffield, UK-based operation is already in 11 international markets and is hoping to set up an operation in the country soon.

"I have been on a China-British Business Council trade mission recently and I didn't get any sense among those on that trip that there was any lack of enthusiasm for doing business in China," he said.

Newey believes the company provides the sort of specialized service for which there is a gap in the market.

"We help people who are out of work get back into jobs and we believe we could play a role in China," he said.

Eric Schmidt, chairman of China Entrepreneurs, a Beijing-based organization which promotes entrepreneurship and works with a number of foreign companies, said in some aspects the market is tougher.

"The government is trying to promote local businesses and help them succeed and that can have an impact on foreign businesses, but it really depends on which sector," he said.

"In other technology sectors such as clean energy, however, there are a lot of opportunities for foreign companies."

Cheryl Tang, director of The Beijing Axis, a consultancy which works with many foreign multinationals, mainly in mining and natural resources sectors, said there are now more opportunities for small- and medium-sized (SME) companies than bigger companies in China.

"There seems not so much space for bigger companies to come to China. I see a lot of opportunities for SMEs to come here with unique products and services. Currently, we are helping an automotive lubricants company and they are doing well here because they have products their competitors simply don't have, " she said.

Wu at the Guanghua School of Management said one of the barriers to entering China - that companies had to develop different strategies for different regions of the country - seems to be disappearing.

He said a one-size-fits-all strategy for China would have a better chance of working now than ever before.

"It actually defies traditional theories of comparative advantage. As areas of the country develop they should in theory develop areas of specialization in particular sectors or industries. What seems to be happening in China is that everywhere is becoming more uniform," he said.

Tse, whose new book on tackling the China market, The China Strategy, has just been published, said for those who haven't entered the China market there are "leapfrogging" opportunities, where established companies in the country have yet to catch up with an international consumer trend or an advancement in technology.

"China's development is never a linear or incremental phenomenon but often non linear so that outside companies can always leapfrog over incumbents," he said.

He insists, however, that whether the market has got more difficult to enter or not, foreign companies have to have a more sophisticated approach than ever before.

"You can no longer put your B or C team in China but you have to send you're a team. It is not a matter of plugging them in and playing either. They have got to appreciate the local context and that doesn't come naturally to a lot of people," he said.

(China Daily April 26, 2010)