For the latest illustration of the shifting balance in global business, consider Wen Jiabao’s visit to Warsaw late last month. No less than 16 central and eastern European heads of government virtually stood in line to meet the Chinese premier at a business forum. About 300 top Chinese businessmen came along too, and 450 executives from the region.

As Mr Wen announced a $10bn special credit line for joint investment projects in eastern European infrastructure and technology, moreover, only two, small, eurozone countries were present and none from western Europe.

Straight after Mr Wen’s eastern European trip came another, by China’s rising deputy premier Li Keqiang. In Moscow, Mr Li signed 27 deals worth $15bn with companies including Oleg Deripaska’s Rusal and Gazprombank. In Hungary, he signed seven more, including a $1bn credit line for projects including a (Chinese-built) rail link to Budapest airport.