Two years ago, Shang Fulin, the head of the Chinese stock market regulator, came under frequent attack for the uninspiring performance of the market which was languishing at near 1,000 points. Now he is occasionally admonished for not doing more to prevent the market’s inexorable rise, with the main index now well over 5,000 points.

“The speculative mood has deepened,” Mr Shang admits in an interview. “The rapid rise in the market means that the level of share prices could exceed the growth in companies’ earnings.”