Optimism abounds amid crisis

The global economic meltdown has burned many companies worldwide but merely served to fan the flames of economic optimism in China, as local consumers continue their wild shopping sprees, evening dinner parties and overseas tours with wild abandon.

Unlike the vast majority of consumers in most countries, which have tightened their purse-strings and battened down the hatches, the Chinese mainland has been sending powerful shopping delegations to its top trading partners: North America, Europe and China's Taiwan province. It has also inked lucrative oil deals with Russia and Iran to pave the way for greater energy security.

This sense of optimism has been further fueled by news that countries as far apart culturally and economically as Britain and Pakistan want to borrow money from China, which now has an estimated foreign reserve of up to $2 trillion.