By Rhun ap Iorwerth Chief political correspondent, BBC Wales

Rhodri Morgan drums up business at a trade fair in Xiamen

To the first-time visitor, Shanghai comes as a shock.

The scale of its unparalleled growth in recent years is apparent from the moment of arrival at the newly-built Pu Dong airport, and the subsequent transfer into the heart of the city on either the new express road or high speed mag-lev (magnetic levitation) train.

All these marvels of engineering make a bold declaration of Shanghai's ambitions as a centre of world trade.

In Shanghai's business and new residential districts, countless skyscrapers - including some of the world's tallest - march across a landscape that in parts was farmland just 15 years ago.

It's this image of a land of economic plenty that's fired the imaginations of those Welsh companies on the mission sponsored by Wales Trade International (WTI).

Nowhere in the globe, perhaps, are the potential prizes for success as great as in China

From industrial flooring specialists and cardboard-cutting machine manufacturers, to software designers and telecommunications entrepreneurs, these are companies who have come to the conclusion that their success depends on their willingness to venture into the global market.

China's 1.3bn people live in a nation of 3.7m sq miles (9.6m sq km)

Nowhere in the globe, perhaps, are the potential prizes for success as great as in China, whose economic growth outstrips any other country.

WTI is the overseas trade arm of the Welsh Assembly Government.

It provides the market expertise, takes care of the administration arrangements and provides some financial help for the Welsh companies to come on such a trade mission. WTI also helps companies locate potential clients.

Some of the companies have been to China before and are pursuing contacts made on past trade visits. Others are tentatively exploring the Chinese market for the first time.

Bureaucratic barriers

The Chinese economic success story, which was kick-started by a series of economic reforms, beginning in the late 1970s, doesn't guarantee the success of business ventures.

Indeed, China can prove to be a difficult market to break into for many reasons. The sheer size of the country, and bureaucratic barriers than can baffle all but local experts, often prove frustrating, according to one Shanghai-based business consultant Dyfed Evans.

The Xiamen fair is China's only national promotion aimed at attracting foreign investors

But his advice? "Come and have a look for yourselves and give it a go!"

Rhodri Morgan clearly relishes the opportunity to push the case for Welsh exports, and is also working closely with the WDA here, whose job it is to attract Chinese investment to Wales.

His presence as first minister certainly appears to open doors - VIP treatment is the order of the day from municipal government leaders here.

But it's the doors of business opportunity that are important to the Welsh businesses accompanying him.

Will they open in Shanghai, or Xiamen or Beijing, the other cities being visited on this trade mission?

For some they already have. For others it may take time. It may never happen.