Justin Lin
Age: 57
Chief Economist & Senior Vice-President, World Bank
As an officer in Taiwan's military, Lin defected in 1979, swimming to the mainland from a Taiwanese-held island several miles off the coast. Lin, who has spent the past 30 years studying China's economic growth, last year became the first World Bank chief economist from China. He has said he wants to "bring in the perspective of developing countries to World Bank's policy thinking."
