Is this the end of the “Beijing put”? Over the past five years whenever China’s growth slipped below 8 per cent, global investors could count on the government to unleash stimulus and re-energise the world’s second-largest economy, boosting demand for everything from Audis to iron ore.

China is now sliding towards 7.5 per cent growth and probably lower. But its new leaders are refusing to ride to the rescue, as they did most spectacularly in late 2008 when the global crisis struck. There is virtual unanimity among analysts that China has entered an era of slower growth, and that the government, far from panicking, welcomes this, believing it will give rise to a more sustainable economic model.

The latest evidence of a slowdown came in wobbly trade data yesterday. Exports fell 3.1 per cent in June from a year earlier, the first decline in 17 months. Imports slipped 0.7 per cent from a year earlier and fell nearly 10 per cent from a month ago, well below expectations.