The toughest test for Wang was to tackle the payment crisis of the non-banking financial institutions in Guangdong, which had total liabilities of more than 100 billion yuan.

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.

Wang was transferred to Beijing in April 2003 to replace Mayor Meng Xuenong at a time when an outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) had claimed more than 100 lives across the country, with many cases in the city.

Once he arrived in Beijing on April 22, Wang went to markets and pharmacies to investigate the problem of vegetable, food and medicine shortages as a result of the epidemic-triggered widespread scare.

The municipal government issued an order the next day, introducing strict screening and quarantine measures to stem contamination channels.

The first executive meeting of the municipal government after Wang took office lasted only 30 minutes. Wang began the meeting with a warning: "Let's take what we say here seriously."

Then, the construction of a special hospital for epidemic emergencies started the same day.

The epidemic was brought under control one month after Wang took office in Beijing. His weight, however, dropped 10 kg in the first half year he worked in the city.

As executive chairman of the organizing committee of the 2008 Olympic Games when he served as Beijing mayor and director of the organizing committee of the Shanghai World Expo when he served as vice premier, Wang also made painstaking efforts and contributed wisdom to the two events that grabbed global attention.

Skilled negotiator

As vice premier in charge of external economic affairs, Wang and his team have kept close contact with their foreign counterparts to seek common ground in dealing with the global financial crisis and European debt crisis.

As Paulson's counterpart in the China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue, Wang impressed the U.S. negotiator as a man who "enjoys philosophical debates and has a wicked sense of humor."

Trained as a historian, Wang has been seen as very responsive and likes to interpret his ideas through stories in talks with overseas guests.

His first speech at the China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue demonstrated both his storytelling skill and accomplishment in history study:

"Before this visit, many friends told me: 'You have to be cautious, the door of the United States will soon be closed, as protectionism now prevails in the country.' But I told them: 'That's not the America which I know of.' We can see from history that trade was the foundation where America was built up, and the United States has been an inclusive land for all races and ethnic groups in the world."

Then he continued:

"At my first stop of this visit, a giant arch stands high in S. Louis. The arch, with a frame but no door, is a symbol of the starting point of the United States' Westward expansion. America, like this arch, should always be open."