Any comparisons with Chad are ancient economic history.

"There's so much concern about the negatives, people often lose sight of the fact that it is one of the most dynamic, rapidly growing markets in the world," says Kristin Forbes, associate professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management, who recently completed a two-year stint on the Council of Economic Advisers.

But in a country that has some 5,000 years of collective history, including more than 50 years of Communist rule, the American retailers who are lured onto China's welcome mat aren't facing any kind of slam dunk.

Wal-Mart, for example, had to figure out how to pay local taxes.

"Figuring out what they had to pay in taxes was actually a big hurdle," says Forbes (who's no relation to the famous publishing dynasty). "It took local governments some time to figure out what it should pay."

"This market is very different and needs thorough market research among consumers," observes Hand, of Jones Lang LaSalle. "A U.S. retailer might be very successful in both markets, but for very different reasons, such as different consumer groups, expenditure patterns, age groups. Fashion is an interesting example. Many Chinese developers try to lure famous U.S. department stores, often by offering very sweet deals, to China. However, very little thought is given to the different shopping preferences, clothing styles, body shapes, between these two countries. A success in the United States will not automatically be a success in China without appropriate merchandise adjustment or positioning."

Local retailers are scrambling, too.

"A classic thrust-and-parry scenario is already emerging and is likely to remain in place for the next three to five years," adds Hand. "International retailers are thrusting into this hugely promising market, whereas domestic retailers are frantically consolidating in an effort to parry a defense. There is a race for space under way among many categories - big-box retailers, high-street banks, petrol filling stations, etc."