China's export miracle over the past 10 years is now a commonplace. Less well-known is a parallel British miracle. Exports of knowledge-based service - everything from investment banking to publishing - have grown over the same period at near-Chinese proportions as part of Britain's emergence as a world leader in the knowledge economy.

It is a fragile position, not widely understood, with far-reaching implications. On data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Britain employed more than 48 per cent of its workforce in knowledge economy sectors in 2005 (including information and communications technology, health, education, financial and business services, creative industries and high-tech manufacturing) compared with a European Union average of 41 per cent. Britain's trade surplus in the knowledge industries constitutes 3.4 per cent of gross domestic product - the highest in the world.