Do you know how to get your hands on a list of foreign banks operating in China? Or perhaps you are looking for a manufacturer of soccer balls? You may even be feeling very adventurous and be looking for a supplier of abalone, or even a tutor to teach you the fascinating art of Chinese tea making?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should get in touch with the entrepreneurs who posted these questions on the Chamber's "Business Help Wanted" Web page (www.chamber.org.hk/bhw/).

The site attracts over 500 page views a day, from just about every country that you have ever heard of, and some you haven't. Originally started as an online forum where businesses could shoot off a question on a particular issue or problem they faced, it has since become an Arabian bazaar of sorts, where online carpet traders (literally), rub shoulders with IT gurus. As with any bazaar, the chance of coming across a bargain, or in this case brilliant business opportunity, is always just around the corner.

Business Help Wanted is open to all for free, but as is increasingly the case with open forums, this has attracted some spammers who copy-paste their direct marketing pitches.

"We have had one or two obnoxious spammers, but in general our policing of the site catches them before they become too much of a nuisance to serious users," says Stephen Luk, Assistant Manager of the Chamber's IT team.

He believes that a number of postings on Business Help Wanted, judging by the reply threads, have resulted in successful cooperation between users.

"Because we don't track or follow up with people who post messages, we don't know how many deals have actually been struck," he said. "But judging from people's responses posted online, some are obviously very interested in trying to work out a deal before they get in touch with each other privately."