While consumers in the rest of the world remain listless, there seems to be no stop to consumer growth in China. During the Asian financial crisis, China was the only Asian nation to display strong growth, and now during a time when analysts are talking of a "double dip" recession in the US and murmuring under their breath of 1929 and 1987, China continues to play the role of the recalcitrant.

According to a Reuters report last week, China's retail sales, a key gauge of domestic consumption, rose 8.8 percent in August from a year earlier. The Chinese State Statistical Bureau was the source.

"...Retail sales rose 8.6 percent year on year in July and climbed 8.6 percent in the first seven months of this year, according to earlier official figures..."

It seems the worldwide economic slump has little effect in China at present, with many foreign executives of the largest multinational firms stating that their highest priority overseas market was China, in a survey released also last week.

However continued and sustained stock market falls in key US and European markets may see some multinationals put expansion on hold, if only for immediate cash flow reasons. At one stage in the future a worldwide depression will affect jobs and salary increases in China, and the Chinese government's target of 10% consumer spending growth in that case, maybe harder to reach in subsequent months.