At the height of the global financial crisis (GFC), China staved off recession by turning the dial on stimulus up to 11.

This time around, with Western governments pledging trillions of dollars in state aid as coronavirus threatens to turn a slowdown into a slump, Beijing reacted by nudging the needle up to a four or five. Why?

It’s not like China to be so wary. In 2008 finance minister Xie Xuren: “Saw the GFC for what it was, far earlier than his global counterparties, and did the world a favour”, says Taimur Baig, chief economist at Singapore’s DBS Bank.