There’s no question that the big “winner” in the global financial crisis has been China. While for the past two years developed economies have been scrambling to keep afloat China has taken a nuanced approach to achieving its economic and political goals.

China has used depressed commodities prices to stock up on long-term supplies of raw materials such as oil, copper, and iron.  And it’s used structural weakness in the U.S. financial system as justification for replacing the dollar as the world’s main reserve currency.

Now, the Red Dragon is looking to make headway on the highway by winning global market share in the automotive market while U.S. heavyweights spin out.

“We aren’t afraid of the financial crisis,” Zhou Fuquan, vice president of Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. (PINK: GELYF), told Bloomberg News. “On the contrary, we hope it will penetrate even further as

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An investment arm of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) is poised to invest about $250 million in Geely Automotive - China's largest privately-owned carmaker - by purchasing the company's convertible bonds and warrants.

Geely Automotive is the Hong Kong-listed arm of Chinese automaker Geely Holding. Goldman Sachs Capital Partners will buy convertible bonds and warrants issued by Geely's Hong Kong-listed subsidiary. The deal is almost complete, but some technical details of the investment are still pending. Confirmation of the deal could be announced as early as this week.

Geely plans to use the proceeds from the Goldman investment to boost its production capacity, which could free up capital for its parent to bid for Volvo. Geely's parent company has made global headlines in recent weeks after contemplating a bid for Volvo, the Swedish car brand owned by Ford Motor Co. (F). A successful deal would boost Geely's profile and

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