AMID chaos on Wall Street, the question looms  who wins? Increasingly, eyes are flickering towards China.

"They were subject to some lecturing from the West about issues they had with their own investment banks and securities companies (in recent years), and now the shoe really is on the other foot," said Andrew Godwin, a Melbourne University Asian finance law specialist.

Compared with the anarchy in the deregulated and debt-ridden US financial system, China's more tightly controlled market and high rate of savings are looking good.

"I think China will have a bit more leverage because the model in the US hasn't worked," Mr Godwin said. "That might give China a bit more confidence in going down its own track and not being so influenced by the views of the West."

Not that Beijing is immune from the turmoil. China has an enormous stake in the US economy and is estimated to hold about $US1 trillion ($A1.25 trillion) in Treasury bills. It also sends vast amounts of goods to America.