George Soros, the world famous investor and currency speculator, said on Wednesday in a public discussion with a panel of experts and students at Hong Kong University that China has been the first country to recover from the financial crisis and emerged as a motor of the global economy, with its isolation from the global financial system aiding a swift economic recovery.

"For China, the financial crisis was an external shock. It hasn 't really shaken the (China's financial) system itself," said Soros .

Talking about the Greek debt crisis, Soros said he was confident that the crisis will pass.

Concern about Greece's ability to reduce its huge budget deficit has triggered credit ratings downgrade, led to a sharp sell-off in the Greek government debt and even raised speculation as to whether it could be forced out of the euro zone.

Soros said the Greek government will "do whatever it takes" to meet the conditions imposed on it in order to keep their government bonds acceptable by the European central bank.

"Because the alternative is much more painful," he said.

Soros is the founder of Soros Fund Management and co-founder of the Quantum Fund.