I don't disagree with you (mostly) on the red tape over here. I think there is plenty of room for improvement. And yes there is some corruption - but I've been doing business in Canada for 25 years, and in my experience it's still relatively uncommon.
I'm happy that Shanghai is improving. It gives me a lot of hope for the future of the country.
My experience has been in more central China, in cities that are either undeveloped or newly developing. I was horrified at the way people live and the way things are done, and I found it really difficult to watch. I have personally watched the armies of old women with buckets moving concrete. And what I learned about how commercial transactions are done astounded me. Comparing the corruption over there to what happens in Canada is like comparing the Titanic to a rowboat. And I've not even touched on intellectual property theft or rule of law - both of which seem to be rather "discretionary"
Yes Canada is slow, but one of the results is that what happens usually makes economic sense. We don't have thousands of empty buildings that were put up because somebody knew somebody and got the funding from a government bank. The idiotic projects that we do have (like relocated gas plants and Mars) are inevitably caused by government incompetence, which further serves to reinforce the point that we do not want what they have in China - where the party essentially dictates what gets done and what does not.
Our system is slow and can certainly be improved - but I would never wish for what I experienced in China. I'd rather the red-tape any day. I really really hope that China country improves and perhaps your experience in Shanghai is a good sign for the future.
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Fair point! Rant off.
the most difficult part is done! 
