Henry Kissinger’s famous question about the EU — “who do I call if I want to call Europe?” – now has a Chinese variant: who do investors turn to for guidance on Beijing’s monetary and currency policies? Until recently, calls for clarity were met only by resounding silence, even as turmoil on China’s equity and currency markets reverberated around the world at the start of this month. While the government and central bank have since woken up to the fact they face a communications crisis, officials and analysts say the opacity of the Communist party makes it a difficult challenge to overcome. Senior figures finally came out of their shells last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos to address their peers’ concerns about China’s management of its economy, markets and currency. Leading the charge was a good cop, bad cop team featuring Fang Xinghai, one of three vice-chairmen at China’s securities regulator, and Li Yuanchao, the country’s vice-president. Both hold government positions that belie their real influence in China’s power structure. In addition to his post at the China Securities and Regulatory Commission, Mr Fang is also affiliated with the party’s powerful Central Leading Group on Economic and Financial Affairs, where he is believed to have the ear of President Xi Jinping. Mr Li, meanwhile, though ostensibly Mr Xi’s number two, does not sit in the party’s inner sanctum — the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee.