Asia is a land of saving gluts: the flipside to US and European deficits. China's current account surplus this year is forecast to reach almost 10 per cent of GDP. The “manipulated” renminbi is one cause of this huge surplus. Asia's less open capital accounts, younger populations and rudimentary social safety nets also help drive savings higher. Furthermore, the experience of the Asian financial crisis of 1997-8, when the region ran current account deficits with modest foreign reserves, spooked governments. Hence today's nearly $4,000bn of reserves held by countries in the region, excluding Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

The new world order anticipates Asian consumption taking off as some of these savings are spent. Allowing currencies to appreciate will automatically import growth. But bigger policy changes are needed. One is to encourage jobs growth in service sectors rather than Asia's usual capital-intensive export industries.

A stronger currency would mean Mr Wong buying American cars and TVs. However, it would also mean Asian companies buying the businesses that make them. Remember Japan's bubble-era buying spree – the Rockefeller Center, the Van Gogh paintings – and the hostility that generated? China has already encountered pushback, as when oil giant Cnooc sought to buy Unocal in 2005. Its more recent investments into western financial services firms were welcomed, but these were stakes rather than takeovers – and subsequent share price performance was criticised at home. Next time, all Chinese buyers will want equal access to US markets, be they consumers, companies or sovereign wealth funds.