BETTING ON BEIJING: CHINA'S WTO ENTRY HAS MANY EYEING ITS MIDDLE CLASS.

Footwear News, January, 2003 by Ellis, Kristi

WASHINGTON -- In a time of saturated domestic markets, China's burgeoning middle-class population shimmers before U.S. footwear manufacturers as a potential source of millions and millions in sales.

Just think of it: In the land where U.S. companies already make millions of pairs of shoes annually, some 1.28 billion potential consumers live, ripe for cultivation.

But could it all be a mirage?

First, unlike most countries, China exists as a diffuse group of 22 provinces, some with populations as large as Mexico and Germany, five autonomous regions and three municipalities -- each made up of different economies, languages, customs, distribution and marketing traditions.

But these challenges pale beside the country's biggest...

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