Isn’t it great when a plan comes together? A few months ago Beijing was fretting about an apparent collapse in demand for cars. Muted sales data – passenger cars fell 35 per cent between March and August – suggested that China would be lucky to get anywhere near its target of shifting 10m vehicles in 2009.

Some blunt instruments later – tax cuts and subsidies for smaller vehicles – and cars are flying off forecourts. With 2.7m new vehicles shifted in the first quarter (up 4 per cent year-on-year), China has zoomed past the US (2.2m, down 38 per cent) as the world’s largest market. At that rate, Beijing will beat its 2009 target by early December. No wonder this week’s Shanghai auto show is more festive than similar events in the west, which are being scaled back or canned.