Ｎｕｒｔｕｒｉｎｇ　ＳＭＥｓ

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Practical financial, tax and accounting issues affectinginternational SMEs during the early stages of investment.

Foreign companies have long looked toChina as a means of lowering manufacturingcosts and gaining access to a large, develop-ing market. Abundant natural resources,cheaper labor, big local markets and a devel-oped supply chain base combined with localgovernment incentives including tax breaks,special investment treatment and repatriationof profits have been attracting internationalsmall manufacturing enterprises (SMEs)to China since the early 1980s. Investinghalfway across the globe is not without itschallenges though, and there are many prob-lems and difficult issues a China "first-timer"will encounter. For SMEs especially, under-standing these problems and issues will be thedifference between making and losing money.