A boom in the financial sector—spurred by a parabolic rise in share turnover—helped China’s economy grow by 7 percent in the first half of 2015, according to official figures. The avenue Beijing has chosen to build upon is a familiar one: infrastructure investment. China embarked upon a massive infrastructure spending program from 2009 to 2012, which had the effects of “lifting economic growth in the short run but also creating a local government debt legacy that threatens financial stability even now,” according to Dong Tao, Credit Suisse’s chief regional economist for Asia (outside Japan).