But, while the CN¥4 trillion stimulus package propped up growth temporarily, return on investment was deteriorating, because potential growth was already lower than actual growth. As a result, credit demand was relatively weak; in many cases, commercial banks had to persuade enterprises to accept loans, with a large proportion of the credit ultimately devoted to chasing assets in the capital market.
危机爆发后，政府没有认识到潜在增长的下降并据此调整，而是继续间接坚持不现实的10%的年GDP增长目标。但是，尽管4万亿元刺激计划暂时提振了增长，投资回报却出现了恶化，因为潜在增长已经低于实际增长。因此，信用需求相对疲软；在许多情况下，商业银行必须说服企业接受贷款，很大一部分信用最终被用于在资本市场中竞逐资产。