Government behaviour affecting growth

Infrastructure spending led by the state in China along with a renewed interest in buying new property among the population is driving the Chinese economy this year, according to the BBC.

BBC Asia Business Correspondent, Karishma Vaswani, says according to China's National Bureau of Statistics, the economy has grown by 6.9% in the first quarter this year compared to 2016 which saw the slowest growth in 26 years. She says while China is seen as a key driver of the world's economy, its debt is set to grow and is now worth 250% of GDP.

Research given to our luxury forum last November pointed to the trend for foreign property investment to move outside traditional areas such as London and homes, into student accommodation. Recently it has been suggested that there is a Chinese backer behind a ' hanging gardens of Babylon' student accommodation design by Architects of Invention, the practice now waiting for planning consent to build in the Digbeth area of Birmingham.