China's remarkable recovery from the global economic crisis was substantially aided by one of the biggest stimulus packages ever organised.
The country's economy grew by 8.7 per cent last year as many developed-world economies suffered their worst recession since the 1930s.
While fiscal spending by China's central government was relatively restrained (last year's budget deficit was 2.8 per cent of GDP), the country's state-controlled banking system positively hummed with activity. The amount of new loans issued last year doubled to roughly Rmb9,600bn ($1,405bn, £965bn, €1,143bn), equivalent to about one-third of GDP, much of it to local governments.