Investment bankers can heave a sigh of relief. At last, the drought is over: the first company to launch a $1bn-plus initial public offering in 2016 went on the road this week, starting in Hong Kong.

Such a long wait puts 2016 on a par with 2009 and 2012 — two years that equity market specialists would rather forget. Investor jitters — and outright fear, in the case of 2009 — resulted in a string of pulled deals and a disappointing take-up for many of the floats that did brave choppy markets.

Do not pop the champagne corks just yet, however. Bankers would be a lot more relieved if this week’s icebreaker was not China Zheshang Bank — a regional lender from Zhejiang province, an economically vibrant but somewhat indebted region south of Shanghai. And, with pricing scheduled for March 21, its IPO represents the latest start for $1bn-plus deals since 2009, according to Dealogic — pipping 2012 by a single day.