Graham Earnshaw, born in England and a former Beijing journalist-turned-Internet entrepreneur, penned The Life and Death of A Dot-com in China to give advice and spread his optimism about the region's potential.

Earnshaw's 330-page book pulls together practical information from professionals that includes chapters on foreign investment in ISPs, real estate issues, licensing agreements and intellectual property (since software and content piracy is a well-documented problem).

Earnshaw's book, published by Hong Kong publisher Asia Law & Practice, aspires to be a survival kit for businesses, investors, venture capitalists and dot-com wannabes looking to do business in China. Earnshaw worked with more than 25 lawyers, accountants, consultants and business people.

"I am full of confidence in the future of the Internet in China, it's messy and frustrating, but it's faster than any other place on the planet," said Earnshaw, who is also a director of the Shanghai lifestyle content site Chinanow.com. "China is a very volatile, but highly entrepreneurial place, and the Internet will be at least as important to China as it is in the U.S."

Recent Internet censorship regulations that the government passed have perplexed investors and industry players wanting to build markets there. Under the code, any online content that violates the state or is anti-government is subject to heavy fines and even imprisonment. Consequently, ISPs and content players have been put under immense pressure to curtail their content.

However, this hasn't stopped investors from looking into China since it is expected to be a business hotbed once the country enters the World Trade Organization.

China's attempt at entry into the WTO, which has been languishing for more than 14 years, is currently stalled over a wealth of concerns about the details of its entry requirements.

As a whole, China has agreed to open most sectors to more foreign investors and businesses. For example, Wu Jichuan, the minister of Industry Information, told an audience at the ITU Telecom Asia 2000 conference in Hong Kong this week that China is committed to opening up its telecom industry and allowing more foreign investment and ownership in local companies.

However, certain groups such as the European Union are looking for further clarification on China's commitments to opening up its insurance and distribution sectors, and Washington politicians are voicing concern over China's human rights record as well.

Earnshaw said businesses in China must interpret statements from government officials that are often hard to define.

Foreigners who have turned away from investing in the Internet in the PRC (People's Republic of China) because they have been frightened off by the rules don't really understand the environment, Earnshaw said.

"It's not a crackdown, it's a lot of regulations. The government understands that information on the Internet is not controllable, but they're trying to change the pace of change," he said. "The basic principle in China is you can say it, it's just how you say it -- it's a Confucian situation (where people agree to comply while finding workarounds)."

Earnshaw said he is worried about the regulations on an Internet community that is in many ways just beginning. The Internet has had a much greater impact on establishing communications between ordinary people and businesses in China than it has in the West where free speech has been permitted.