Financial crisis handled well

China has emerged as the star amid the global financial crisis. The Wall Street Journal reported that Roger Altman, chairman and founder of investment bank Evercore Partners, said at a conference of International Bar Association that "China is the only winner" in the crisis, because its economic growth is picking up again, and its financial system emerges intact after the crisis when the rest of the world is going through a "long, painful" process.

Altman's point is impressive but not entirely accurate. In this global financial crisis, China is not the only winner. There must be other winners in the world, but it is fair to say that China is a big winner.

There are many reasons for that conclusion. Amid the financial crisis, it is well known that the Chinese economy is the first to recover and resume growth; and, that the Chinese financial market is among the least battered. More outstanding, however, are the rise of China's competitiveness, its deeper integration with the global economy, and the experience gained by the Chinese leadership in handling the crisis.