The Chinese government has targeted six sectors - steel, cement, flat glass, chemically processed coal, polysilicon and wind turbines - in a drive to curb reckless expansion. China's fixed asset investment increased by a 30 percent in 2009, while capital formation contributed 92 percent of the year's GDP growth.

China's cement, steel, and nonferrous metal producers enjoy higher returns on equity than the industrial world average. In 2009, Baoshan Steel had a return on equity of 7 percent in 2008, while the global average for steel companies was negative 3.3 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Between 2002 and 2008, China's corporate energy price index increased by half as the comparable world index. Gasoline, water, and industrial electricity tariffs are about one-third to one-half of the world averages, and lower than those in many developing countries, according to UBS.