Another bright spot for both domestic and foreign investors is China's rural market that is emerging as a potential driver for the flagging economy. Cao Yuanzheng, chief economist at BOC International Holdings Ltd., said China's numerous towns and villages would increasingly become important targets of investments. For example, the rural areas where financial services and capital are scarce may provide chances for foreign banks and private equity investors, he said.

Rural China is no longer simply a source of emigrants bound for the cities, but a hotbed of prosperity, said Peter Rupert Lighte, Chairman of JP Morgan Chase Bank (China) Co. Ltd. But that will eventually require a dynamic integration of cities and villages, he said. For instance, the government must draw rural migrants to smaller and newer cities closer to their original homes so that the geographic and financial urban-rural divides will be diminished, he said.

Green economy

In addressing their different economic woes, China and the Untied States took similar low-carbon paths to green growth. While China embarked on a spending spree on environment protection, the United States resorted to a tax cut for clean energy industries.

The "green" stimuli have the capacity to inject steam into both economies in a sustainable and efficient way, said William J. Friedman, Director of Food & Drug Asia at Covington & Burling LLP, a renowned law firm based in the United States. The countries' enormous economic and social benefits range from higher energy efficiency and healthier agricultural products to green job creation and conservation-based enterprises, he added.

Richard J. Schulberg, Executive Director of the International Sustainable Development Foundation, agreed with Friedman.

"We are still confronting a crisis of neglect in many places around the world about the ecological system and the climate change that might be even more crippling to the world's future than the current financial crisis," he said. "The financial crisis is also mounting pressure on us to be more productive and energy-efficient. As a result, the pursuit of the green economy is not an option, but a necessity for the promising future."

Gary William Dirks, Group Vice President of BP Plc, believes that China and the United States can play a positive role in fostering the green economy by strengthening their financial support for green policies and creating standards.

The two countries have a good opportunity to cooperate in a number of areas, such as protecting the ecosystem, promoting energy-efficient vehicles and developing a smart grid that is highly efficient in power transmission and distribution, he said.