Few would argue with the position that China has emerged on the world stage as a political and financial superpower, in some cases, rivaling the U.S. Many would add that China is just beginning to achieve its potential. By 2007, China’s GDP was double that of Canada and surpassed Germany to become the world’s third largest. According to forecasts of the International Monetary Fund China’s GDP will outstrip Japan’s in 2010, making it the world’s second largest behind the United States.

What do investors see when they look globally at investment opportunities? They see Japan lagging and Europe faltering. They worry about defaulting countries such as Greece and others in Southern Europe and possible bailout. But they also notice that China has achieved 15 straight years of economic growth, and is well on its way in 2010 to continue that trend.

So how do you invest in China? ETFs may be a good option. “There are at least eight ETFs focused on China specifically, including those targeting large-cap and small-cap styles, as well as sector ETFs targeting China’s real estate, industrial, and consumer sector stocks,” notes Vaughan Scully of Standard & Poor’s. Some possibilities:

The iShare’s FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund (FXI) is the clear asset leader among China country funds and almost 20 times the size of its largest rival, comments Scully, in Investment Advisor. It boasts about $10 billion in assets, It holds a select group of large-cap stocks that are benchmarks for their sectors.

PowerShares’ Gold Dragon Halter USX China Portfolio (PGJ), has $476 million in assets, and holds mostly large-cap China stocks. This ETF owns 139 Chinese companies that have shares listed on a U.S. exchange and therefore are regulated by the SEC. This ETFs top sector weighting is energy, at 22%, followed by information technology with 20%.

Claymore’s AlphaShares China Small Cap Index ETF (HAO), has $291 million invested in companies with market caps of less than $1.5 billion. About 23% of the fund is invested in the industrials sector, and 19% in information technology.

Global X Management recently launched two new funds, the China Consumer ETF (CHIQ) and the China Industrials ETF (CHII).