Koester thinks Chinese authorities could start down a path of unpegging the currency from the U.S. dollar.

FORBES: Corporate America's Multi-Billion Dollar Currency Problem

Wu Jianzhong, Wumart's chairman, thinks Chinese stores need to spruce up.

ECONOMIST: Retail in China

Mr Harl thinks the Chinese will also use freer trade to acquire more advanced technology, so that they can harvest bigger and better crops.

ECONOMIST: Farming

In short, he thinks the Chinese economy has lots of room to expand and merely needs to accomplish something that smaller countries have already managed.

FORBES: Don't Worry About China: World Bank Chief Economist

Stephen Jen of SLJ Macro Partners, a hedge fund, thinks that the Chinese may have been buying as much sovereign debt from struggling states as the European Central Bank (ECB) has.

ECONOMIST: Capital and companies from China are sidling into Europe

Cai Fang, the widely followed Chinese demographer, thinks the workforce actually peaked in 2010, and he is probably correct.

FORBES: Is China Running Out Of Workers?

Thus even index investing god Burton Malkiel thinks he can beat the market by adding some Chinese octane to his asset mix.

FORBES: Malkiel Shills For Indexing Again, But Backs Baidu Just In Case

"It's part of this overall story that the Chinese want to know what the West thinks of them, " said Richard Bejtlich, chief security officer with the computer-security company Mandiant Corp.

WSJ: Chinese Hackers Hit U.S. Media

He thinks it will become the third center, independent of both Anglo-Saxon and Chinese approaches to finance.

FORBES: Will London Survive As A Financial Centre?

That is not what matters most, Mr Zhao counters: Chinese firms have a very strong culture and little experience working with outsiders, which he thinks gives Hony a decisive edge.

ECONOMIST: Hony Capital wants to help Chinese firms go global