British prime minister Theresa May did not come back to London from her visit to China empty-handed last week. According to news reports, British businesses signed ￡9bn worth of deals with Chinese companies.

Similarly, after French president Emmanuel Macron visited China earlier this year, it was claimed that €20bn worth of contracts had been signed. These figures pale in comparison, however, with the announcement of investment and trade deals worth $250bn between the US and China when President Donald Trump went to the People’s Republic in November.

Neither the Chinese nor the UK, French and US governments informed domestic audiences whether these agreements were definitive or merely memorandums of understanding which have no binding force. It is not uncommon for such non-binding agreements to be signed even when one or more of the parties has no intention of carrying through on any deal.