He says the Bank of England is even considering changing the rules to allow Chinese banks to operate as branches and not subsidiaries, the only status currently allowed for foreign banks in the UK. Operating as a branch, with the full security of the Beijing legal identity behind it, would enable banks to expand without deploying as much direct capital.

"The Bank of England understands the importance of having the Chinese banks and they are looking at ways of accommodating their method of operation," Boleat adds.

Related readings:  Renminbi's role set to grow  Advent of a banking superpower  Making the right transition  Center focus on economic reform

Whatever the international strategies of the banks, China is already a dominant financial player in the world.

By virtue of being the world's manufacturing workshop for a generation, it has accumulated $3.2 trillion in foreign currency reserves.

Around $1.16 trillion of this is held in US Treasury bonds and therefore China is a major underwriter of the world's biggest economy's gigantic national debt.

If anyone were to underestimate the potential scale of China's financial firepower, they might better first consider that the sovereign wealth fund CIC has already had a major presence globally by deploying just 1.6 percent of available foreign currency reserves.

Gary Rieschel, founder and managing partner of Qiming Venture Partners, a leading venture capital company, based in Shanghai, says it is not a question of when China becomes a financial superpower because it already is.

Martin Jacques, a China commentator, says there are risks for China to take on the mantle of a financial superpower. Nick J.B. Moore / for China Daily

Junheng Li, founder of J.L. Warren Capital, believes there are concerns about corporate governance with Chinese banks. Cui Meng / China Daily

"It is a superpower in the sense that anyone in financial services, whatever they are doing, has to take account of China; so in terms of influence they are already there."

But he argues that if China is going to be as dominant in the world as it has been in manufacturing, it will have to overcome major hurdles.

"In the manufactured product world, the trust is in the product. Thirty years ago China did not target being a world class manufacturer and competing with Germany but at just being good enough for the lower cost markets..

"The problem with financial services is that just good enough doesn't work. The trust is in the people and the institutions and not in the product. That is the part that China is going to struggle with."

One of the major questions is whether China can achieve true dominance abroad without banking reform at home.