Zhang Bingjun, the man who saved Teda

Zhang Bingjun met probably the biggest challenge in his career last year when his company was caught in a serious cash crunch.

"I had to find funds equivalent to 100 million yuan (HK$122 million) each day. If we failed to do that, our company's name would appear on a blacklist of the central bank and banks would stop lending to us," the chairman of state-backed Teda Investment Holding told the South China Morning Post.

Zhang's case shows the damage done to "China Inc" by a slowing of the country's economy that has gone on for six consecutive quarters - dipping from a peak of more than 10 per cent annual growth in the past decade to less than 8 per cent.

The weakest performance in three years, which has forced many small private businesses to close, also has hurt state-owned enterprises such as Teda, a conglomerate with 180 billion yuan in assets, based in Tianjin.

Teda's businesses range from property, manufacturing and utilities, to financial and logistics services. It controls the power, water, gas, and urban transport networks in the Binhai New Development Zone, an area established for the creation of high-end industries and services.

It also owns controlling stakes in companies including Tianjin Pipe, the nation's largest producer of crude pipes, Bohai Bank, hotel chains and a soccer club.