This is a big issue because sectors such as telecoms, energy and financials are still heavily regulated by the state. In contrast, others such as manufacturing have been opened up for a long time and there's now very limited government influence over them.

From an equities point of view, we think China will go from strength to strength over the next couple of years. We might see some adjustments, but I don't think they will be major corrections and that means there should still be plenty of investment opportunities for us.

Demand in the first quarter continued to be strong across all three regions, maintaining the momentum of the fourth quarter.

Our supply constraints also resulted in the company's inability to replenish the channel towards the end of the quarter. Compared to the end of 2004, we ended the year with significantly fewer weeks of inventory in the channel in the U.S.