In view of analysts at Nordea Markets analysts, China's economic structure has continued to shift towards consumption, while investment growth has remained relatively sluggish.

"We expect that trend to continue, as the easing measures are going to be limited and the boost to infrastructure investments will remain small compared to previous business cycles. This means that developments in the labour market are key in analysing China's growth prospects, but unfortunately labour market data is relatively scarce and does not always point in the same direction as the general economic outlook. When combining the existing data with our road-trip survey in November, the general outlook seems robust. Companies have typically reported 6-8% nominal wage increases, and the recent trend of limited labour supply in the tier-one cities has revealed some signs of tightness in those areas. Obviously, the recent rise in inflation is hampering real income growth, and the increase in purchasing power is smaller than in the previous years."