China 'can be engine of growth'

The economic crisis of 2008 is rooted in the so-called "global imbalances", whereby the West borrowed too much, funded by Asian savings.

Globalised financial markets then transmitted the American led crisis around the world.

Resolving this crisis, in the least painful manner, will require rebalancing the global economy.

China is a significant source of global savings and certainly is not immune to the economic crisis which will slow its economic growth, though it is likely to weather it well.

With nearly $2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, it is in a position to help with the credit crunch in the West as well as serve as an engine of growth as the other engine, the United States, slows to a halt.