Evergrande has emerged as the highest-profile symbol of China’s economic woes after falling foul of new regulations forcing property companies to strengthen their finances. 

The country’s stringent restrictions on foreign travel and domestic lockdowns to control the virus also raise new risks for China in the face of the new Omicron variant, according to Oxford Economics. 

Tommy Wu, the consultant’s lead China economist, said the potential rapid spread of the new strain had created “significant uncertainty”.

“China’s zero Covid tolerance approach, with the authorities continuing to clamp down on small outbreaks, will continue to weigh on consumption, despite the country having a vaccination rate close to 80pc of the population,” he warned.

The fears also prompted the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development think tank to cut growth forecasts for China next year in its latest estimates. 

The OECD warned that a deeper Chinese slowdown could shake supply chains and trade, setting back the world’s recovery from Covid and costing about $1 trillion in lost global output over the next two years.

Laurence Boone, its chief economist, said: “Trade with China would slow, new disruption to supply chains could appear, and financial markets would very likely be particularly shaken by such a shock.”