Is the private equity boom a result of the Asian savings glut? The Chinese current account surplus was $250bn in 2006 and is heading for $375bn this year. Foreign reserves hit $1200bn in the first three months of this year. This provides “a base level of liquidity being pumped out into the world”, says Charles Dumas, director of UK-based Lombard Street Research.
The big Chinese banks have burst into the top echelons of global banking and look set to stay. This year’s Top 1000 shows there are now two banks, ICBC and Bank of China, in the Top 10 world banks in seventh and ninth place, with China Construction Bank close behind in 14th place.