Understandably, David Cameron ignored Foreign Office advice in signing the UK up to membership of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. If one took any notice of those killjoys, one would never do anything fun, such as importing dangerous wild animals, holidaying in Yemen or lending moral support to a repressive superpower.

The FO tried to block the UK’s application, which George Osborne had sponsored, predicting it would annoy the Americans. The US controls the World Bank, the most hated development bank in the southern hemisphere, and does not want rivals for that valuable franchise.

The chancellor, however, is keen to foster Anglo-Chinese relations, and with them Chinese investment in the City of London. This is a worthy aim. the Square Mile is already Europe’s main centre for renminbi trading. The London Metal Exchange is Chinese-owned, Lloyd’s has Chinese participants and giant Chinese asset manager Harvest is in the process of setting up a UK subsidiary.