If there are winners from the financial crisis, many of them are, by common consent, in Asia. With the US economy punctured by Wall Street, China is widely perceived to be the global top dog designate. On this view, not only has the geopolitical balance shifted east but portfolio flows will follow suit. Welcome to the new investment reality.

As with most conventional wisdom there is an element of truth in it. China's fiscal position is very strong relative to the West and its recovery has been very rapid. The region more generally has been spared the horrors of the banking crisis, having gone through financial fire in 1997-98.

Where the problem arises is in translating economic growth into investment return. Shanghai has scarcely been a goldmine for investors. Charles Dumas of Lombard Street Research notes that after the violent ups and downs of the past couple of years the Shanghai Composite in mid-September was about 3.5-4 times its level of 15 years ago, yielding a compound annual gain of 8.5-9 per cent.