Luo Ping, a director-general at the China Banking Regulatory Commission, in the Financial Times:

“Except for US Treasuries, what can you hold?” he asked. “Gold? You don’t hold Japanese government bonds or UK bonds. US Treasuries are the safe haven. For everyone, including China, it is the only option.”

Mr Luo, whose English tends toward the colloquial, added: “We hate you guys. Once you start issuing $1 trillion-$2 trillion . . .we know the dollar is going to depreciate, so we hate you guys but there is nothing much we can do.”