Yin Ming took his dog for a walk not long after news of the worst US sell-off since 1987 flashed on his screens yesterday morning. He was long Chinese stocks, and the market had been outperforming.

“It was life as usual for me,” said Yin, vice president of investment firm Baptized Capital, who woke up at 4 a.m. in Shanghai to check the overnight market moves. “If the yuan and domestic equities can persist with their resilience, China will likely replace the US as a haven for global assets.”

That confidence could prove unfounded with the economy and corporate profits under an enormous amount of pressure. China’s central bank had already flooded the market with liquidity, encouraging leverage and boosting stock prices. Now, expectations of more stimulus — and a dose of nationalism — are helping limit equity losses. It means that while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 4.9 per cent this week, it still fared better than most major indexes.

In a widely-expected move, the People’s Bank of China said yesterday it will trim the amount of cash that lenders must hold in reserve from March 16, freeing up about 550 billion yuan ($79 billion) of liquidity into the financial system. FTSE China A50 Index futures rose 0.3 per cent after the announcement. The central bank’s last cut was announced at the beginning of the year and helped send stocks to an almost two-year high.

Chinese stocks beat Asian benchmark by the most since 2015. Still, the risk remains that further action by the central bank falls short of expectations, undermining the bull argument and triggering losses.

As the experience in global markets has shown, central banks have been powerless to calm panic selling once it starts.

Pan Jiang, chief executive officer of Shanghai V-Invest Co., isn’t too concerned, citing the outsized impact of fiscal and monetary policy on domestic equities.