In a recent filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Bangalore-based software major Infosys Technologies Ltd said that its plan to enter China may have hit a roadblock due to the current outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

Infosys last month indicated that it faced legal barriers in entering China, but was hopeful that its branch office in Shanghai would be opened soon.

The company's plan to enter China was instantly approved by former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji during his visit to the Infosys campus in January 2002, but Chinese red tape was blamed for the delay.

Infosys chairman and chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy early this year criticised the Chinese bureaucracy and said, "In China the transparency is not very high and it was not easy for companies which were straight forward."

The Nasdaq-listed Infosys has been rated internationally as one of most transparent firms.   

Infosys also disclosed to the SEC that it intends to establish a software development centre in Africa.