The senior Chinese official did his best to be polite. When, at a recent conference on Europe and Asia, I asked him how the Chinese viewed Europe, he chewed thoughtfully on a canapé before replying: “Europe needs to rediscover its entrepreneurial spirit.”

Many of his compatriots are more openly contemptuous, at least judging from a study by Chatham House and the Robert Schuman Foundation, reflecting the views of Chinese policymakers. Europe is more of an edifice of the past than the future, said one Chinese commentator. “Europe appears defensive, introspective, decadent and tired, too prosperous to continue to take risks, too complacent to accept change; Europe is a continent that has lost its ambition and its place in the world.”