US: Jiang Zemin first did it in November 1997 when he was Chinese president. His Vice President Hu Jintao did it in April last year. Then yesterday Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao did it.
There is now a small club of Chinese leaders who can claim to have rung the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Ringing the bell, which before 1903 was actually a Chinese gong, has become a rite of passage for world leaders visiting the United States.
Mr Wen was no exception after his journey from the Great Wall to Wall Street at the start of a three-day visit to the United States. His visit won't be all fun however, as senior Bush administration officials said yesterday the President would urge Mr Wen in talks today to take steps to move China's yuan to a free-floating currency.
When Mr Jiang rang the bell six years ago traders cheered, but yesterday the Chinese prime minister was largely ignored as the floor erupted into its daily rough-house of shouting and shoving.
Up to the mid-1990s the bell was rung mostly by floor managers but with the advent of cable TV channels, it has become de rigeur for a politician, a CEO, an athlete, or an actor, to ring the bell and appear on every financial channel.
The act has been rather devalued as an honour in recent years under the leadership of former Stock Exchange president Richard Grasso, who loved to stand and wave beside rock stars and dignitaries.
In the past 12 months, it seems as if more celebrities have done the business on the balcony above the floor of the stock exchange than have appeared on the pages of Vanity Fair. Recent bell-ringers have included actress Sarah Jessica Parker from Sex and the City, the basketball player LeBron James, a figure dressed as Mr Potato Head and, on Christmas Eve last, a "Ho! Ho! Ho!-ing" Santa Claus.
So many amateurs are doing it that if guests get carried away, there's a backup bell that after one second, automatically triggers trading.
For the CEOs who do it, it is the highlight of their professional career. For politicians, it is a measure of their importance, that is if they want to be ranked up there with Carrie Bradshaw and Santa Claus.