SECOND TEAM

Qing Wang  Morgan Stanley

Qing Wang, who climbs one notch to second place, “has a solid academic background that helps him navigate the mass of data,” according to one loyalist. The Morgan Stanley economist told clients in June 2010 — after the China Banking Regulatory Commission announced mortgage restrictions, including a minimum down payment of at least 40 percent of the purchase price (20 percent for first-time buyers who plan to occupy the residence) — that the government’s commitment to affordable housing would soften the blow from austerity measures undertaken to cool the country’s overheating property market, thus helping to avoid a broad market rout. “We see social housing construction projects as an important cushion for the potential deceleration in the construction of commodity residential housing,” Wang wrote. In December, Beijing announced that it would invest 1.3 trillion yuan ($196.9 billion) to build 10 million subsidized houses in 2011. By the end of April, Chinese stocks were up 14.7 percent since Wang’s report.