As a proportion of total fixed-assets investment the figures suggest little change (14% to 16%).

ECONOMIST: Governing China

These factors make fixed maturity securities and ideal choice for insurance companies, which typically invest 50-70% of their total invested assets in fixed maturity securities.

FORBES: Fed's Twisting Is No Fun For Insurance Companies Like MetLife, AIG, Hartford

Proxies in place, the team dove into the data and came up with surprising results: Between 2002 and 2007 (the years covered by the database), public firms increased their gross fixed assets (as a percentage of total assets) by 4.0 percent a year on average versus 9.7 percent at similar private firms.

FORBES: Connect

Developers are a big chunk of the economy-accounting for 33% of total investment in China's fixed assets last year.

FORBES: Revolution by Block