China’s rampant loan growth – almost a trillion renminbi in new assets in December, and another trillion and a half in January – might be enough to get Barack Obama or Gordon Brown salivating over the possibilities of state-directed lending. Yet China is not satisfied: it wants foreign lenders to pitch in too. On Thursday, the country’s banking regulator chivvied along its licensed foreigners after advances by non-domestic banks in Shanghai – the seat of overseas banking activity – fell last month.

But if Washington and Westminster cannot get their lenders to lend, what possible chance does Shanghai have? Slim to none. China is not immune from rising stress among borrowers: the non-performing loan ratio at foreign banks increased to 0.83 per cent in December from 0.5 per cent three months earlier. Chinese banks, fortified by rising provisions and decent capital cushions, might have the stomach to build loan books in a deteriorating cycle. But many of the 17 foreign banks incorporated in Shanghai have been there less than two years. They will surely be inclined to sit this out – especially as the lower-risk, state-backed infrastructure projects at the heart of China’s huge stimulus plan naturally get awarded to domestic lenders.