Perhaps the biggest surprise from the above list is China.

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The effect, Mr Lardy points out, will be to prevent China from, for instance, continuing to keep domestic wheat prices far above world market levels.

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Iran hit the bottom of the list, down significantly from the last time the report was compiled in 2009 and the country ranked above China, Tunisia, and Cuba.

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The above Clusterstock chart from Business Insider shows amazing export growth from US companies shipping to China.

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The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1% to 2349.59 as investors considered the implications of China's consumer price index for January, up 4.5% from a year earlier, well above economists' median forecast for a 4.1% rise.

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