China’s enormous pile of foreign exchange is once again making global headlines. Last week UK prime minister Gordon Brown called on Beijing to use its reserves, officially valued at just under $2,000bn, to help the IMF bail out those countries worst affected by the credit crisis.

But China’s stockpile of foreign assets is actually much larger and growing far faster than official foreign exchange reserve figures would suggest – a situation that demands a decisive shift in policy both to keep the country’s finances on track and to dampen international criticism of Beijing’s growing financial muscle.