Detroit Free Press Carol Cain column: China: Opportunity or threat to state?

Byline: Carol Cain

Apr. 24--I've weathered six long flights (from Detroit to Tokyo, then to Beijing, then to Chongqing, China, and back) and driven on a stretch of highway with 2- to 3-foot-deep potholes during a three-hour drive between Chengdu and Mianyang in central China. I thought I'd seen all the ups and downs of doing business in China during my first trip there in early March. I tagged along with several metro Detroit small businesspeople who traveled there to see if they could cash in on this land of opportunity with its 1.3 billion consumers and booming economy. Last week, the Chinese government reported the nation's economy grew 10.2% in the first …