Wu Xiaoling Deputy Governor, People's Bank of China

Wu Xiaoling, female, is of Han nationality. She was born in 1947 and studied at the graduate school of the People's Bank of China. She has held leading positions at the People's Bank of China and became its vice-president in 2000.No other woman is more powerful in the world of finance in China than Wu Xiaoling. Before Wu, 59, became China's No. 2 central banker, she was former deputy director of what is now called the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, where she wrote and enforced rules governing how the yuan was to be used in foreign exchange transactions. Wu won kudos for restoring confidence in China's economy and the yuan after she helped calm the markets during the Asian financial crisis in 1998