Fixed-asset investment has been a key driver of China’s economic growth and will remain so in 2013, but the government will find it increasingly hard to sustain its ambitious building projects.
Investment in fixed assets will grow by 19% in 2013, according to CLSA, a Hong Kong-based brokerage. Although that is a slowdown from the 22% rise in 2012, it is still a big increase. “Our worry is where the money comes from” said Francis Cheung, head of China and Hong Kong strategy at the firm.