I can shed some light on the possibilities of the financial crisis effecting the ESL market. Unfortunately, the financial crisis has caused many to lose their jobs (that's a given). Fortunately if you work in some sort of ESL training sector (if you are lucky enough to find a decent training school to work for)... many of these people are taking the time off work to study English.

On the down side, previously, many companies have sent their employees to learn English but can now not afford it. I think most Universities and Primary to Middle School are pretty much unaffected. Chinese are never cheap when it comes to their education and the education of their children. I believe for the most part it is stable.

On the other hand, crime will more than likely rise (and since foreigners are considered rich by Chinese) you can expect that more and more people will be watching which apartment building you go into, and staring at your purse/pockets.

Just some thoughts,

TEO