In July 2007, China Development Bank, a large state-owned policy lender, pledged $9.8bn in an attempt to join the biggest bank merger in history and put itself on a path to commercialisation and reform.

Ultimately, the Barclays bank-led bid for ABN Amro failed and CDB had to settle for a 3 per cent stake in Barclays instead, for which it paid $3bn. But CDB’s involvement in the deal was a powerful signal that Beijing intended to transform it from a piggy bank for pet political projects into a more independent, market-driven lender.