Actions, we are told, speak louder than words. If so, then China looks in good shape. Yesterday, the country’s markets reopened after the week-long Chinese new year holiday. While China was closed, Japan’s equity markets slumped one-tenth in US dollar terms, and the Japanese yen surged.

Yet Shanghai’s return did not exacerbate the regional sell-off: the index opened down 3 per cent then rallied through the day. The renminbi, meanwhile, had its strongest bounce since 2005, up more than 1 per cent, especially curious after January trade data highlighted China’s poor economy. Exports fell more than one-tenth year-on-year, overshooting the anticipated 2 per cent drop. Imports, meanwhile, contracted one-fifth in US dollar terms — again, far worse than forecast.

These figures say more about the parlous state of the external situation than they do about China — exports to the EU, among others, were particularly poor. And while the import figure suggests a slowdown in internal demand, it was unduly influenced by collapsing commodity prices. Iron ore imports, for instance, grew 5 per cent in volume terms but dropped one-third in value terms, according to HSBC.

Other parts of China’s domestic economy are doing just fine. Chinese new year spending on food and retail rose 11 per cent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Finance. Leisure pursuits, in the consumer-driven economy, fared even better. Cinema box office take rose 80 per cent year-on-year for the first three days of the holiday, equalling revenues for the entire week-long holiday last year.

And people travelled, too: visitors to domestic attractions such as Chengdu’s panda reserve rose more than two-fifths.

Despite these encouraging signs, Zhou Xiaochuan, People’s Bank of China governor, made the difference. Over the weekend, he calmed fears of currency devaluation and capital controls. Perhaps words carry more weight than actions after all.