Last month, Dalian Wanda, one of the most outward facing corporates in China, bought the organiser of the Ironman triathlons from a US private equity firm for $650m.

Meanwhile, Anbang Insurance, which has similar aspirations, looked less likely to succeed in its courtship of the Portuguese authorities in the hope of buying the remnants of a financial conglomerate in Lisbon — precisely because the Chinese already have purchased so many assets there. At the same time, Chinese tourists continue to flood destinations like Japan, purchasing luxury goods which are ever-more cheap as the Chinese currency appreciates, to sell them back home for a tidy profit.

It is hard to know what represents prudent diversification and what is capital flight by Chinese groups and wealthy travellers. But for those who track capital outflows from China, the distinction does not much matter. In the four quarters to the end of June, such outflows have totalled more than $500bn, according to data from Citigroup. China’s foreign reserves, once around $4tn, are down to less than $3.7tn and expected to drop further to $3.3tn this year.