Profile: Wang Qishan: Rise of a troubleshooter (4)

（Xinhua） 08:27, December 26, 2012

File photo taken on June 28, 2003 shows Wang Qishan (L front) spends the weekend with local residents in Beihai Park during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) prevention and control period in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua)

As Wang proposed, the Guangdong International Trust and Investment Corporation (GITIC), which was then the second-largest trust company in China and was at the center of the crisis, was declared bankrupt, and the Yuehai Business Group was regrouped.

The move prevented further excessive lending in Guangdong and helped maintain the government's credit. The debt crisis was cleaned up three years later.

As former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson put it, "Wang managed the largest bankruptcy restructuring in China's history in 1998 and thereby prevented a banking crisis that could have crippled the country's growth."

His prowess as a problem solver, however, goes beyond the financial community.