Rather than turning into a “lame duck”, China’s government seems to have become proactive. Months before a landmark change of leadership, Beijing has speeded up its plans to open up its capital account. Beijing’s steps are still largely symbolic. But they show that the reformist agenda is at least firmly on the table.

The latest move concerns the so-called qualified foreign institutional investor scheme, which allows a selected number of institutions to invest in China’s capital markets. The new rules will allow international fund managers to invest a combined total of $80bn, $50bn more than before.

From Beijing’s point of view, this move is both manageable and harmless. Outside institutions only account for 1 per cent of China’s free-float market capitalisation. Letting more funds in will do no harm to the languishing benchmark Shanghai Composite index, which has fallen 62 per cent since its last peak in 2007.