Last week, the Chinese government sent a delegation to Europe led by Lou Jiwei, the chairman of China’s sovereign wealth fund, to get a sense of just how bad things were and how much worse they might get. In the fancy hotel lobby lounges of Beijing, the whereabouts of senior Chinese officials such as Wang Qishan, the vice-premier of China, and the heads of the Chinese banks are the subject of constant speculation.

There are rumours that the Chinese have been buying Bunds and will make a fortune when (not if) Germany leaves the eurozone and reinstates sound Deutschmarks for the ill-fated euro. There are tales of desperate Italian and Spanish bankers offering stakes in their banks to possible buyers from the mainland as they plead for cash infusions.

The US turned to the Chinese for rescue finance in 2007 and 2008. Now it is Europe’s turn to seek a slug of the $3,200bn in China’s coffers. The developed world is turning to the developing world for cash – which of course isn’t the way capital is supposed to flow.