In Beijing, water rates for home use start at just one yuan (about 12 cents) per cubic metre, far below cost, with heavy users paying a bit more.

ECONOMIST: China

Phelps, who took home a record eight gold medals at Beijing 2008, hopes to add seven more to his collection.

FORBES: Connect

For now, dragging much of the cabinet to Beijing seems a small price to pay for diffusing protectionist pressure at home.

ECONOMIST: George Bush's entire economic team heads to China. Why?

By contrast, PricewaterhouseCoopers thinks Britain will win 54 medals, and Daniel Johnson of Colorado College, another veteran forecaster, actually thinks Britain will win fewer medals at home than it did four years ago in Beijing (down by two to 45).

ECONOMIST: Which economist will win the medal-prediction gold?

"Some local authorities have 'fine-tuned' their property policies by allowing home buyers to borrow more from public housing funds, causing a rebound in home prices, " Zhang Dawei, an analyst at Beijing-based Zhongyuan Real Estate, was quoted as saying by the state news agency Xinhua.

BBC: China home price rise indicates small rebound in demand

At the beginning of this year Home Depot closed its last shop in Beijing.

ECONOMIST: Consumer goods

Beijing strictly controls cross-border capital movements as part of its effort to preserve savings at home and protect its banking system from external shocks.

WSJ: Chongqing Court Convicts 18 of Running $10 Billion Money-Smuggling Ring in China