The long path to success

China's stock markets have come a long way.This is not only illustrated by the Shanghai Composite Index's rise to more than 6,000 points in 2007, but mainly by the interest level of the international investment community in recent years.

I started looking at Chinese companies in early 2001 when there may have only been 15 or so analysts attending company briefings. There are now more than 50 in most cases and more than 100 in many. Even Warren Buffett bought into China.

Obviously, international interest has risen as China has grown. In many ways, the Shanghai market reflects the developments in China. These changes are broad. In the past eight years, the Olympics were hosted, subways no longer use paper tickets and Sinopec and CNOOC have moved into new office buildings. Where there was a shipyard in my first visit to Shanghai's Pudong area more than 10 years ago, now stands office buildings.