When capitalism seemed to be collapsing across the western world in 2009, demand from China, for everything from iron ore to designer handbags, helped lift the global economy out of the darkest days of the financial crisis.
The Chinese economy, fuelled by a $586bn stimulus package, grew by 9.4 per cent that year and broke 10 per cent in 2010, earning credit for leading the global recovery as the US and Europe struggled. That effort consisted mostly of bank lending and kick-started economic activity, as Chinese groups bought up raw materials and goods around the world.
Some economists think China will launch a stimulus programme that will spur a new wave of demand in the countries devastated by coronavirus and tipped the global economy into a recession.