House prices

House prices in 70 large and medium-sized cities jumped a record high of 12.8 percent in April from a year ago, accelerating from the 11.7 percent in March, said the NBS. Prices of new residences soared 15.4 percent while those of used ones went up by 10.5 percent.

There has been a time lag before the government clampdown to filter through the property market, and house prices are expected to top out in May or June, said Chen Guoqiang, Director of the Real Estate Institute of Peking University.

Though prices have largely held up, it is not difficult to find clues of a cooling market somewhere else. The real estate climate index, a measure of property development activities, was 105.66 in April, down from 105.89 in March.

Yin Bocheng, Director of the Real Estate Research Center under the Shanghai-based Fudan University, said policymakers must continue with the austerity policies in case speculators return.

Investment in fixed assets

Urban fixed-asset investments in the first four months this year rose 26.1 percent to 4.67 trillion yuan ($684.4 billion) year on year.

The growth followed a 26.4-percent increase in the first quarter this year, and an increase of 30.5 percent over the first four months in 2009.

The slowdown in fixed-asset investment growth was a result of a higher comparison base during the same period last year, said Zhu Jianfang, an analyst with CITIC Securities Co. Ltd.

Industrial output

China's industrial value-added output grew 17.8 percent in April, slightly lower than the 18.1-percent increase in March, said the NBS.

The figure was compared with a 7.3-percent growth in April last year, when the national economy was hit hard by the global financial crisis.

Industrial production was stable, expanding relatively quickly in the first four months, the NBS said. Industrial value-added output rose 19.1 percent from January to April.

Retail sales

China's retail sales rose 18.5 percent year on year to 1.15 trillion yuan ($168.52 billion) in April, said the NBS. The figure was 3.7 percentage points higher than the same period last year and 0.5 percentage points higher than that in March.

In the first four months, retail sales reached 4.79 trillion yuan ($701.32 million), up 18.1 percent, 0.2 percentage points faster than the first quarter of this year.

Fiscal revenue

China's fiscal revenue in April rose 34.4 percent year on year to 792.6 billion yuan ($116.03 billion), said the Ministry of Finance. Fiscal revenue from January to April totaled 2.76 trillion yuan ($404.1 billion), up 34.1 percent.

Banking Competition

Foreign banks operating in China now see their Chinese competitors as their biggest challenge, said PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in a report based on a poll of 42 foreign banks.

The foreign banks now see their domestic counterparts as formidable competitors. With their extensive branch networks and rising service expertise, Chinese lenders are much better placed to fend off competition from foreign banks, said Raymond Yung, Financial Services Leader for PwC China.

In areas such as wealth management, bank cards and Internet banking, domestic banks are continually "lifting their games," forcing foreign banks to compete based on a superior level of service, he said.

Despite the challenge, foreign banks continue to stake their futures in China. "They have been working hard in the last year to expand their reach across China. Many are now opting for local incorporation, and those who have are opening new branches," said William Yung, Financial Services Advisory Partner of PwC China.

Inorganic growth is also an area of focus, with the banks looking to make investments in areas such as asset management, private equity firms and trust and securities companies, he said.

The survey also revealed foreign banks expected a 10-20 percent increase of annual revenue in 2010.