I think one thing we have to keep in mind about china is the fact that the country is still under the control of an oppressive authoritarian pseudo communist government. That's my reasoning for this barrier. It may not be directly from the government, but I think the government is what is ultimately affecting them.
I have deep sympathy for the Chinese people, they have a more difficult situation than we in this regard. Bitcoin brings them more freedom than most.
I would put that in context of where they came from , where they are now and where they are going and the sacrifices (trade offs) that have been required to get there, like the one child policy and very limited freedom of information. Money movement restrictions are routinely (and easily) circumvented and bitcoin will be another avenue amongst many.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/120418/money-laundering-bo-xilai-gu-kailai-neil-heywoodhttp://qz.com/19712/how-chinas-elite-illicitly-move-their-money-offshore/Things to note now
1 There are more millionaires/billionaires than in any other country bar the USA and this may well be wrong as its easier to hide money in China. See my links above
http://www.ibtimes.com/does-asia-or-north-america-have-most-billionaires-11111652 The middle class is huge.. 500M + larger than the population of the USA and the upper middle is estimated at 13M NOW with currently 12% of the luxury goods market and estimated to rise to 76Million and 22% of luxury goods market by 2015. This growth is phenomenal
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/tapping_chinas_luxury-goods_market3 Where China has been lacking are social welfare programs and certain freedoms. This is changing fast as now they can afford it ..and many would argue that they cant afford to ignore it. Minimum wage is now being implemented with target completion 2015. Many other social safety nets are already in place. This will continue to improve..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_welfare_in_China4 There are still 10's of millions under the poverty line as there are just so many people but this is improving very fast. World Bank 2009 figures show a year on year improvement of 1.3% from 13.1 to 11.8% (160M people). If that continues poverty will be almost eradicated by 2018 or sooner.
http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/CHNoverview of China poverty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_China5 Compare all of that to the USA which is arguably heading in the opposite direction albeit it starts at a higher place.
a) Freedoms (commercial) China is catching up and will continue to do so.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-10/usa-10th-global-economic-freedom-2013http://www.heritage.org/index/rankinghttp://www.heritage.org/index/country/chinaFreedoms (personal)
http://www.zerohedge.com/search/apachesolr_search/america%20police%20stateb) Poverty on the increase wealth on the decrease
http://www.zerohedge.com/search/apachesolr_search/usa%20poverty%20increasehttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-07-23/how-does-america%E2%80%99s-middle-class-rank-globally-27http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-31/guest-post-debt-slavery-dummiesc) Government
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-02/10-commandments-governmentI could post many more but each has their own opinion.
d) Crime which is greatly connected to quality of life China wins easily
http://www.nationmaster.com/compare/China/United-States/Crimehttp://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=China&country2=United+StatesSummary
China is now not as bad as it used to be in the 80"s and is rapidly improving in all areas.
Whilst USA is still great and greatly wealthy it is arguably heading in the wrong direction and other Western Countries are in an even worse position
The uglier restrictions to life and business in China are being removed whilst in other Counties they are getting worse. That said China is still behind but will probably get ahead at some near point in the future. Also there are a lot of uglier regimes out there.
Depending on personal and particularly family circumstances, China is a viable option to live and have a LOT of fun in BUT the wealthy all (50% admit)seem to want to go to America LOL link from above The grass looks greener from the other side ?
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970204394804577011760523331438