For that to happen, mainland producers will have to survive and prosper. But how are Chinese companies to fund their growth, with the capital markets seized up? This time last year, bankers in Hong Kong and Shanghai were falling over themselves to boast about the depth of their China pipeline. Hundreds of cash-hungry mainland companies had picked advisers to help them achieve an initial public offering.

The bullishness was understandable. The Chinese economy was powering ahead and company owners were preparing – and expecting – to take advantage of stratospheric stock market valuations. Mainland companies last year raised a record $100bn in IPOs on exchanges in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong – far more than established bourses in New York or London.

This year was supposed to witness more of the same. But the virtual closure of the capital markets, in China and elsewhere, in the second half of the year put paid to these ambitions.