In the foyer of Morgan Stanley’s London hub, copies of the China Daily newspaper are offered to employees and clients, alongside traditional titles such as Newsweek and Time magazine. But even as western investment banks stock up on China’s official English language newspaper, their own standing in Beijing looks to be faltering badly.

Until recently, western banks dominated the league tables in China. In 2009, led by UBS, six foreign banks were in the top 10 in terms of equity capital market banking revenue in China, according to data from Dealogic. But in 2011, only three made the grade, with UBS coming fourth, Goldman Sachs ninth, and Deutsche Bank in 10th place.