Obama's legacy and its implications for China

US President Barack Obama delivered his last State of the Union address on Jan 12, set out what he considered would be his legacy after he leaves the White House. Obama's legacy will not only have profound impact to the coming 2016 presidential and congressional elections, but also have huge influences on US-China relations.

There is no doubt that his first and the most important legacy will be the recovery of the US economy after the worst recession since the Great Depression. As the US is still one of the engines for the global economy, the positive effect of its recovery on the rest of the world has been obvious.

In 2010, the US Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which brought the most significant changes to financial regulation in the US since the regulatory reform that followed the Great Depression, something that has helped the US transform its economy from imports and consumption oriented toward exports and savings oriented.