Suppliers of carpets from China’s northern Xinjiang region received a shock last month when their wares were turned back by Pakistani officials at the mountain crossings between the two countries.

As Beijing moved to assert its control of the predominantly Muslim region, Pakistan’s carpet ban was a consequence of efforts to stop Uighur Muslim separatists from escaping Xinjiang. Although unlikely ever to register as a complaint at the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation, the move offered the carpet- weavers of central Asia some welcome protection from highly competitive Chinese looms.