While many American companies have made huge inroads into China, media companies have faced some significant obstacles entering into the world’s biggest marketplace. In March of 2006, Wenner Media’s Rolling Stone published its first Chinese edition, in conjunction with a state-owned publishing company. After one issue, government regulators shut it down saying the company didn’t have official approval.

Currently in China, all periodicals are published by the government. Anyone who wants to get into the market has to license its content to a government agency who will then print it in Chinese.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Time Warner’s Sports Illustrated is launching its first issue in China called SI China in conjunction with a Hong Kong-based partner. It will be interesting to see if SI fares any better than Rolling Stone.

Obviously, the sports content will be a lot less controversial than rock and roll in a country that is sponsoring the upcoming Olympic Games. This should make the magazine more acceptable to Chinese officials. In any case, American advertisers, especially sporting goods companies, are lined up to leverage the magazine to support their marketing efforts in China.

My guess is SI China will be the first of many American magazines that will penetrate the Great Wall. The business opportunities are too great to ignore, as long as the content is not perceived as offensive to the tastes of the Communist Party. It may be a slow process, but in the years to come, we can expect to see many of America’s most popular publications appearing on Chinese newsstands.