This year’s TIME 100 list of the world’s most influential people includes two Chinese leaders, vice president Xi Jinping and vice premier Wang Qishan. Wang’s profile was written by former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who says:
I know Vice Premier Wang, 60, to be decisive and inquisitive. He is an avid historian, enjoys philosophical debates and has a wicked sense of humor. He is a Chinese patriot, but he understands the U.S. and knows that each of our two countries benefits from the other’s economic success. And he is bold — he takes on challenges, does things that have never been done before and succeeds. 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.
Also on the list from China are pianist Lang Lang and Alibaba founder Jack Ma.