The chairman of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the largest in the world measured by market value and profitability, has claimed in a rare interview that there were "flaws" in Western incentive systems. However, he offered Western financial institutions hope by saying that China's banks had learned their lessons on risk in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and adapted to new regulation.

Jiang Jianqing, in an interview with a quarterly journal produced by management consultant McKinsey & Co, which is published below, said his bank is happy with the governance model involving "confidence and public trust" which results from being controlled by the state.