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China's ascent as an economic powerhouse has been stoked by nearly $500 billion of foreign investment in the past decade. In 2003 alone, $53 billion flowed in—the first time China eclipsed the U.S. as the No. 1 recipient of foreign investment. But all that cash isn't drifting in on global trade winds. Matching a capital-starved Shanghai manufacturer with a New York City financier requires an expert middleman, someone with Chinese-market savvy and an ability to bridge cultural divides. Here, TIME profiles an élite group we have dubbed China's Rainmakers: pioneering venture capitalists, investment bankers and other dealmakers who helped finance China's economic miracle.

For these leaders, the art of the Chinese deal is about more than making a profit; it's about building a modern capitalist economy. "Foreign investors who bring money and technology to private domestic firms are doing exactly the right thing," says Yasheng Huang, author of Selling China: Foreign Direct Investment in the Reform Era. "If you can structure your investment so that you take advantage of China's growth story without having to depend on its economic system, you have most of your success right there and then." We say, let it rain.

NEXT: "Barefoot" Banker Strikes Gold >>

• Jim Erickson | Hong Kong
• An élite group of venture capitalists, bankers and lawyers is bringing billions to China