China’s new fiscal stimulus package on Monday animated financial markets desperate for any signs of good economic news around a world confronting a significant slowdown. Yet the package’s announcement has also left many questions unanswered.

Beijing announced on Sunday that it would spend Rmb 4,000bn ($586bn, €458bn, £373bn) – an amount equivalent to 15 per cent of gross domestic product – on infrastructure and social welfare over the next two years to prevent the economy from slowing too rapidly.