New emphasis

摘要

China is a special case as construction markets go. Technically it did not experience a recession - in fact the construction sector boomed due to an aggressive stimulus package that targeted residential and infrastructure development. As a result, a big bounce in growth is not to be expected. In fact, as stimulus is withdrawn, the expectation is that growth will slow. China remains a centrally planned economy, and the Chinese Communist Party has laid down ambitious goals for China's economic transformation in the country's 12th five-year plan which will anchor development from 2011 to 2015. The new plan shifts away from the longstanding growth-at-all-costs mantra, and moves toward a development-oriented strategy that emphasises economic, social and environmental sustainability.