China remains Asia’s greatest powerhouse, but with its ageing population, anaemic domestic demand and declining bang for investment buck, and confronted with a US determined to stymie its rise, its economic path ahead is unlikely to be easy. Boosting real estate construction and investment has long been the Chinese government’s favoured economic fallback, and the strategy has served numerous ends: releasing land for construction has papered over the cracks in local government finances, while building work has kept employment high (albeit unproductive) — therefore limiting the risk of social unrest while supporting economic activity.