As part of China’s anti-corruption drive, the free liquor and even bottled water disappeared from the hotels housing guests for the 19th Party Congress, which concluded last week. But despite the austere note on which the core leadership insisted, there was a congratulatory air about the proceedings.

The reflationary trade may be moribund in the US, but across the Pacific it is alive and well. Consider one small indication noted by Chris Wood, strategist at CLSA: ICBC, the largest bank in China and in the world, is trading above book value in relatively cynical Hong Kong for the first time in more than two years. “The improvement in Chinese banks’ reported asset quality can be seen in the continuing rally in Chinese bank stocks, where a re-rating is now taking place,” he notes.

Banks are generally a proxy for wider economic trends. In this case, the recovery of the share prices of ICBC and its peers reflects two benign developments.