The premiers of China and Russia accused America of sparking the economic crisis as the Davos political and business summit made a gloomy start.

Wen Jiabao and Vladimir Putin both blamed "capitalist excesses" for the global downturn, as one followed the other to the podium at the opening of the World Economic Forum last night.

The Chinese premier began with a speech asserting that the worst recession since the Great Depression had been caused by blind pursuit of profit.

In a thinly veiled attack on America, Mr Wen blamed “inappropriate macroeconomic policies of some economies” and “prolonged low savings and high consumption”.

He blasted the “excessive expansion of financial institutions in blind pursuit of profit and the lack of self-discipline among financial institutions and ratings agencies”, while the “failure” of regulators had allowed the spread of toxic derivatives.

The Chinese leader called for faster reform of international financial institutions and for a “new world order” for the economy.

Mr Putin, the Russian premier, following him to the podium, accused bankers, regulators and politicians of turning a blind eye to the “perfect storm” that was building before their eyes.

“This pyramid of expectations would have collapsed sooner or later. In fact it is happening right before our eyes," said Mr Putin.

“Although the crisis was simply hanging in the air, the majority strove to get their share of the pie, be it one dollar or one billion, and did not want to notice the rising wave."

Mr Putin said that he would not criticise the United States, but then added: “I just want to remind you that just a year ago, American delegates speaking from this rostrum emphasised the US economy’s fundamental stability and its cloudless prospects."

Condoleezza Rice, when US secretary of state, gave a speech in Davos last year saying the US economy was safe.

Mr Putin went on: “Today investment banks, the pride of Wall Street, have virtually ceased to exist. In just 12 months they have posted losses exceeding the profits they made in the last 25 years. This example alone reflects the real situation better than any criticism.

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