This really should be China’s moment. Bursting with confidence after the summer Olympics, when it dominated the gold medals and presented an image that blended modernity with tradition, the country should be facing the global financial crisis with more assurance than pretty much anywhere else in the world.

While many countries are watching their currencies and companies slump, China’s public finances look robust and the local banks, walled off from international capital and monitored by an overbearing regulator, avoided the obvious excesses of the past decade. At a time when capital is sorely sought-after, China has the largest pool of foreign currency reserves in the world and a procession of companies eager to make their mark in the world.