Abstract

There is a huge opportunity for foreign entrepreneurs to enter the Chinese market They have noted that the market is difficult to enter and complex to navigate This study seeks to contribute towards filling this gap by examining the success or failure of foreign nationals setting up businesses in China and identifying the critical success factors for foreigners in China basing on transnational entrepreneurship and opportunity recognition theories 128 entrepreneurs in China were surveyed through semi-structured interviews Their responses were collated and analyzed using graph theoretic matrix approach to identify and rank the factors with the most influence on their business success It was found that the factors with the greatest influence on the success of foreign entrepreneurs are government policies and funding Government policies towards innovation through financing for technology companies and the demographic make-up of the consumer population provide the greatest opportunities for foreigners By giving a cross-cultural perspective of the causes and influences of foreign entrepreneurship in China personal strategies and policy implications can be derived by foreign entrepreneurs hoping to capture the market