"Construction starts may have been up last year, but I expect that to fall around 10% this year because of the central government's lowered target for public-housing starts and diminished investment from private-property developers, " said Johnson Hu, a CIMB-GK Securities analyst.

WSJ: China Construction Starts Slowed in 2011

Arthur Kroeber of GK Dragonomics, a consultancy, says the country still enjoys a considerable tailwind from urbanisation and a huge potential for productivity gains as it adopts new technology.

ECONOMIST: China��s roaring growth cannot last indefinitely