How to win friends and influence people, part one: invest $3bn in a US private equity firm’s initial public offering, surrender voting rights and agree to a one-year moratorium on rival deals. Beijing’s plans to take a 9.9 per cent stake in Blackstone, the US-based private equity group, is a political masterstroke.

Investing some of its foreign exchange reserves in a US entity addresses US fears that diversification into riskier asset classes would hurt the dollar. The timing, just ahead of this week’s strategic economic dialogue, also demonstrates a willingness to engage with the US. If, as many expect, Beijing follows the investment with (modest) liberalisation of the financial services industry, Hank Paulson, US Treasury secretary, will be able to impress both Wall Street and Washington.