Today, China has become the world's largest manufacturing nation with the most complete industries, according to United Nations statistics. Meanwhile, Chinese enterprises are striving to go global. So far, more than 20,000 Chinese companies have ventured into overseas markets. Take Huawei for example. This leading telecom solutions provider has established branches and factories in 164 countries and regions. Moreover, Chinese customers' purchasing power in overseas markets has considerably increased in recent years. The RMB has evolved from its function of settlement currency to an investment and reserve currency to some extent, so displaying acceleration of the RMB's global march. China has signed more than RMB five trillion's worth of currency swap deals with 30 or more countries. The development of both China and other countries shows that it is only to be expected that a large manufacturing nation will develop into a financial powerhouse. This is, indeed, a necessary condition that guarantees China's successful transformation from a big manufacturer to an even stronger one.

Currency, the monetary market and a substantial economy are the pillars that support a financial powerhouse. Several requirements must be met in this regard.

To start with, the country's sovereign currency must go global and be capable of leading international economic and financial governance, and of shaping governance systems. The internationalization of a nation's currency requires proactive industrial competitiveness in the first place. Significant status in world economy and trade is important to a country, as is favorable opportunity. For instance, as a victorious nation and the one that benefited most from WWII, the U.S. made the dollar the world's reserve currency in 1944, as the war was drawing to an end. The war destroyed industrial systems in Europe and Asia, so new currency, international trade and investment systems needed to be built when it was over. The U.S. took the advantage of its status as a major world creditor nation, investor and manufacturer to develop an international economic and financial governance system that made the U.S. dollar the world's primary reserve currency and enabled it to denominate bulk commodities.

Facts show that the currency of a financial powerhouse is widely accepted in the fields of international trade and monetary markets, and can be used for international payments, foreign exchange trading, and state reserves. It is for this reason that the monetary policies of a financial heavyweight often produce a strong spillover effect – any move by its central bank, whether tightening or loosening, brings about changes in other countries' exchange and interest rates, as well as influencing global financial markets, staple commodity markets, and cross-border capital flows.

Second, a well-developed financial market with a strong ability to allocate global financial resources is required. A financial powerhouse usually owns one or more international financial centers that lead international currency, capital, and commodity market platforms through which the nation can grasp the right to allocate global economic resources and pricing power. The U.S. is again an example. The New York Stock Exchange and Chicago Mercantile Exchange set the benchmark prices for global financial products and bulk commodities. This makes it possible for the U.S. to absorb saving funds from other countries at a comparatively low interest rate while investing abroad via foreign direct investment to obtain high profits.

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