Prague is a tourist jewellery box, but it is also a pretty small place for someone who made a fortune from the Czech Republic’s transition to capitalism.

That is why Petr Kellner, central Europe’s richest man and the owner of PPF (First Privatisation Fund), the country’s largest financial group, has become a frequent flier to China. The 43-year-old entrepreneur is spending time poking around the country’s shops and markets, getting a sense of what the emerging middle class is buying and how they are paying for it.