Infrastructure development key to beating recession

There is no room for uncertainty. When China is starting its most important economic policy-making process - the annual central economic work conference - you know what it is going to be about. It's the global financial crisis. And what to do, if anything at all, to prevent it from turning into a general recession.

No room for ambiguity either. Top on the to-do list can only be one thing, that is investment in public infrastructure. Ever since the time of John Maynard Keynes, this has become the standard anti-crisis weapon for every government that is able to raise money.

In all likelihood, for the next couple of years, the largest business movement in the world will be in infrastructure development. China and the United States will be two leaders of this movement - be it competition or cooperation or both (I personally prefer a healthy mixture of both).