Chinese policymakers trying to fire up growth in the world’s second-largest economy appear intent on smashing through a wall of debt that poses a systemic financial risk and on not repeating past mistakes in delivering fiscal stimulus.

A briefing by China’s Ministry of Finance might have been short on detail, but it did enough in outlining China’s plans to recapitalise its big banks and shore up over-stretched local government finances to settle its sharemarket investors’ nerves.

Investors drove massive inflows into exchange-traded funds that buy Chinese stocks last week on optimism over additional fiscal stimulus, even as local shares came off the highs reached the week before.

The dollar held onto its gains and even extended some in Asian trading on Monday as a holiday in Japan sapped liquidity, leaving China's somewhat disappointing weekend stimulus announcements the focus of market attention.