A year ago, Donald Evans, the United States Commerce Secretary, was complaining that the world economy was flying on one engine of growth - America.

"China is helping out a bit," was the biggest concession he offered delegates to the World Economic Forum's annual conference.

Now it appears that China is helping out a lot. By enough, indeed, to send commodity prices soaring as it sucks in the raw materials needed to fuel its accelerating boom.

The UK, the world's fourth largest economy, has continued to offer America support in economic as well as political terms – Mr Evans, take note.

Today, Japan, second in the global economic league, confirmed that it has begun to play its part in revival, reporting its strongest growth figures in 13 years. Spurred by growing exports, and soaring investment by restructured businesses, Japan reported the strongest economic performance of any of the major industrialised nations in the last three months of 2003.

Although consumer spending remains weak, a fall in unemployment and companies' renewed willingness to spend means the country is well placed to build on its recovery.

So the one main engine of the global economy left idling is that of the eurozone, which grew by just 0.3 per cent in the last three months of 2003, compared with 0.4 per cent the month before.

The Franco-German axis may have been viewed as a motor of European politics but the two eurozone giants have not, since the last century, provided economic leadership.

That the two nations have agreed to hold a summit meeting today with the UK should be viewed as a signal of growing French and German vulnerability rather than of increasing British dominance.