Bao Ba! Now What?

China's financial system more than weathered the global financial crisis in 2009. Its banking sector outperformed global peers in asset quality, earnings and market capitalization. Its equity market -- one of the year's best-performing – soared 85 percent. Insurance, securities and fund management registered strong growth as well.

Most remarkably, China's real GDP growth rate may well have surpassed the government's original, ambitious target of 8 percent. China has been lauded for leading a global recovery.