Our hats off to those who are in the business of wooing the China corporate travel market. As our Cover Story on Understanding China (pages 5-11) shows, it is not for the fainthearted.

Truth be told, no one really knows the exact value of China's corporate travel market- pundits can mention US$5 billion, or US$50 billion, they will be believed, their figures a mere euphemism that the market is worth its weight in gold. Who needs to know exact numbers, anyway? The belief that the market is huge is logical - China is liberalising and its economy is growing; this should lead to an increase in corporate travel, both domestic and international.

This belief has spawned modern-day warriors to conquer a slice of the market, never mind it is as elusive as a Shanghai maiden. But if you look at it from the Chinese perspective, managed corporate travel, a concept invented by the Americans, surely is as strange to the Chinese as when hamburgers first landed on their plates. Corporate travel itself is a new phenomenon to the Chinese, let alone the idea that the expenses it incurs can, and must, be managed.

Because it is new, it carries with it all the "problems" that hinder the growth of managed corporate travel. The list is long and many of the issues are basic - for instance, China people still rely on faxes and phone calls, not email; it is still predominantly a cash society; an under-the-table approach in vendor negotiations is not unusual; there are GDS restrictions; fare structures are complicated, and the list goes on. That is why we take our hats off to those who are making any progress in the market, for it is well-earned indeed.

Remember, one day, managed corporate travel in China will be as prevalent as the McDonald's outlets that now dot its cities. It will take a while, but it will get there and that will be in no small measure thanks to the warriors who are fencing off the challenges now.

Raini Hamdi
Editor