"We're not able to track which specific part of money is unspent and for what reasons. Even if the 1 trillion yuan of unspent money is true, I'm not sure if recouping it and spending it at the central level is a wise option," Zhang said.

"On the one hand, it might not be fair to recoup money that was meant to be spent on one project that hasn't been spent just because preparation work is not done. On the other hand, how can you know that other projects to which the money was transferred are a more worthwhile investment?" Zhang said.

He added that it is understandable that dormant funds are mobilized at a time when greater government spending is needed, but policymakers should reflect on the root cause of why so much in funds was idle in the first place.