Ever since China opened for business in the early 1990s, western investors have been clambering for a piece of the action. But as one of the first Wall Street bankers to take on China - profiled in Tim Clissold's memoir, 'Mr China' - discovered the hard way, the People's Republic doesn't play by the usual rules. His firm lost the best part of $400m (£235m) during its first few years of investing directly in factories all over China, despite having a small team on the ground completing due diligence and actively monitoring each investment.
Indeed, such challenges as two-faced partners, corrupt government officials and disappearing multi-million-dollar bank accounts may help explain the stress-induced heart attack that Mr Clissold suffered during his 30s. In one particularly outrageous tale, the Mandarin-speaking author recounts a routine monthly visit to a factory where he found it cleared of equipment, people and money. Yet behind a large fence next door, a rival factory - producing the exact same specialist automobile parts - had suddenly sprung up.
Granted, China has come a long way since those wild West-like days. Enticingly, the country's economy - now the world's second largest - continues to grow at three times the rate of its fastest European counterpart. But there remain many differences in business practices, accounting principles and the general rule of law. That's apparent from the recent actions of several Chinese companies listed on London's Alternative Investment Market (Aim).