Staying with real estate. Developers have shifted their focus to smaller cities. Large developers including Country Garden, Evergrande and Greenland are all participating in land auctions in the small cities surrounding China's major metropolises. Our Chen Tong has more from Shanghai.

If you live in Kunshan but work in Shanghai, it takes you only a little more than 30 minutes to commute every day by high-speed rail. In addition, a metro line linking the two cities is expected to open by 2023. Property investments in smaller cities near Shanghai are seeing significant growth as a result. In 2017, property investment in Jiaxing, which is some 100 kilometers from Shanghai saw year-on-year growth of 50 percent. Other nearby cities around Shanghai including Kunshan, Nantong and Jiashan have also seen large developers coming in.

CHEN TONG SHANGHAI "Property developers' enthusiasm in cities near Shanghai stem from the integration of the Yangtze River Delta Region. From convenient transportation to a variety of plans to integrate public services in the region, all are grabbing attentions from developers."

YAN YUEJIN, RESEARCH DIRECTOR E-HOUSE REAL ESTATE RESEARCH INSTITUTE "Transportation is one of the most obvious signs of the integration of the Yangtze River Delta. The integration of the region's social security, health insurance, and public savings funds will follow, and reinforce this. That will reduce the gap between Shanghai and the smaller cities, which will get more developers interested in investing in them."

The integration of the cities in the Yangtze River Delta is just one factor that is attracting developers. Purchasing restrictions in the nearby cities are also not as strict as in Shanghai. Buyers without local residence permits can still purchase apartments in some small towns near Shanghai such as Kunshan, Jiashan and Qidong. With large new demand in these cities, experts believe that investing in them promises good profits.

LU WENXI, SENIOR ANALYST CENTALINE PROPERTY "Housing policies in towns near large cities are relatively looser. Quick turnover is the main sales strategy there. So to property developers, investing in small cities is a quicker way for them to get back a return."

The Yangtze River Delta is just one example of what is happening all over China. The country's other mature urban areas such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan area and the Pearl River Delta region are witnessing the same trend. In addition, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development's plan is that by 2020, 1,000 special towns are to be built near the country' large cities to provide more convenient living and working spaces.