Yi stressed the profound transformation that Chinese banks have gone through in recent years.

"It is amazing that 15 years ago China's entire banking sector was on the verge of bankruptcy. But now four or five of the world's largest banks in terms of assets, capital and profit are from China," Yi said.

His comments were echoed by fellow panelist Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of Blackstone Group.

"Chinese banks are incredibly large and profitable," Schwarzman said. "Chinese banks are also tightly controlled because they are so central to the Chinese economy."

Commenting on China's regulatory system and how it fixed seemingly incurable problems, Schwarzman said: "China's senior officials are unbelievably smart and capable by world standards, and exceptionally organized."

He said it would be very interesting to see these large Chinese banks step out of their territories in China and start exploring the global market.

Schwarzman has set up the $300 million Schwarzman Scholarship at Tsinghua University to attract students from other countries to study and gain a deep understanding of China as a future world leader.

Schwarzman's main assistant in China is David Li, professor and director of the Center for China in the World Economy at Tsinghua University. He also attended the forum.

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