China will record the world's highest growth rates for rubber consumption over the next four years, said a study by the Freedonia Group. However, the increases will be slower than those recorded in the 1990s.
The market will be sustained by expanding demand for industrial rubber products such as hoses, belts and gaskets, offsetting a slower outlook for tyre rubber.
Shanghai property prices forecast to rise Residential property prices in Shanghai will increase by 15 per cent this year and office rents will continue to rise as existing tower blocks fill up, according to a forecast by property consultants FPD Savills. Although the mass housing market will be affected by the ending of a municipal scheme to encourage home purchases by giving buyers tax rebates on 20-30 per cent of the purchase price, the top tier of Shanghai's property market is about 20 per cent of the price of London or New York. This has encouraged the expectation that prices, which have rebounded 50 per cent since the fall in 1997, have room to rise further.
However, despite an influx of foreign cash, Savills believed that the large amount of land available in Shanghai would ensure steady growth and prevent a bubble developing, as happened in Hong Kong.