A Billionaire's Take on the China Theme

It would have been a brutal mistake to read a Chinese delegation's light showing at the recent World Economic Forum as a sign that, in a world rattled by financial turmoil, China didn't matter.

In fact, the growing importance of China for an international community trying to navigate stormy financial waters was a common thread in discussions among economic soothsayers and sages, from Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros to Australian diplomat Kevin Rudd, who gathered in the snowy Swiss Alps town of Davos.