The aim is to bury Laiki, the country's second-biggest bank, and to resurrect Bank of Cyprus (BOC), its largest.
That means that Mr Basescu, whose mandate expires in 2014, may after November find himself working with a less docile prime minister than Mr Boc.
Three other Chinese banks have made it into the top ten: China Construction Bank (CCB), Bank of China (BOC) and Agricultural Bank of China (ABC).The sheer size of these institutions is breathtaking.
Bank of China (BOC), the second of the "Big Four" state banks, with foreign investors already aboard, is planning a $5 billion foreign listing in early 2006.
Earlier rumours had put RBS's planned investment in BoC at up to $5 billion.
And this month a deputy chairman of BoC received a lengthy prison term for bribe-taking and embezzlement.
Now Romania's president has lost his prime minister, the low-key Emil Boc, amid protests over austerity, corruption and general incompetence.In January Mr Basescu, in typically impulsive style, phoned a live television programme to denounce Raed Arafat, a popular Palestinian-Romanian who founded and ran the ambulance service, for his "leftist views".
Mr Reitzle's main concerns, now that the integration of BOC is complete, are about ensuring the group has enough exposure to China and India.
A suspect arrested by Manila police was later released because of lack of evidence.See article: The love-bug computer virusAir Liquide and Air Products halted their £7.4 billion ($11.3 billion) bid for Britain's BOC after failing to win agreement from America's Federal Trade Commission, a competition watchdog.
Temasek also promised to spend another $500m on BoC shares at flotation.
Compared to the instability in 2012 when a string of protests forced Emil Boc to resign as prime minister, Romania's current government, led by Victor Ponta, enjoys a two-third parliamentary majority.
