While many countries are watching their currencies and companies slump, China's public finances look robust and the local banks, walled off from international capital and monitored by an overbearing regulator, avoided the obvious excesses of the past decade. At a time when capital is sorely sought-after, China has the largest pool of foreign currency reserves in the world and a procession of companies eager to make their mark in the world.

With the US budget deficits now counted in trillions of dollars rather than billions, this should be one of those moments when the shift of power from west to east gathers pace. “When a country gets into such large debt, it is very likely to lose a lot of its political power too,” said the chief executive of a European multinational on a recent visit to China.

Yet within China, the triumphalism of the Olympics has quickly disappeared. China may be better placed than most, but the global financial crisis has started to hit the country hard and jolted its confidence. Sustained high growth is a central part of the pact that keeps the Chinese Communist party firmly in control, yet China's growth model is now facing close scrutiny. Meanwhile, its leaders have so far been tentative in global discussions about the crisis rather than trying to play the larger leadership role that many had expected them to seek. The inexorable rise of China has not been derailed, but the crisis has made it seem more hesitant.