An investment analyst has said commodity-related investments will remain a crucial avenue to gain exposure to the China story even if growth slows to single digits in the coming years. Mr. Mark Mobius, president of Templeton Emerging Markets, feels risks from derivative contracts, capital flight that drains liquidity or changes of sentiment by leveraged investors like hedge funds do not outweigh a positive long-term picture for China and other emerging markets.

“There will always be traps out there,” he said, but added, highlighting China's likely growth trajectory and industrialization in other emerging nations, including India, that “high levels of growth in China are sustainable”. It will, however, get harder and harder as the economy grows. “You cannot expect double-digit growth rates over the longer term but you can achieve high single digit growth,” he said.

Mr. Mobius said China's extensive experience in developing its own infrastructure meant the country had a huge advantage when doing business in other developing nations. They are used to massive projects - doing very big civil works projects quickly by importing their own labor, their own engineers. China, like other nations, faces all sorts of social and political barriers to working in resource-rich but sometimes chaotic countries, “but they are probably better suited to handle those. And China will go into places where other people fear to tread.” He said China's key areas of interest were oil, coal, iron ore and copper and noted that part of China's focus on overseas resources was to secure supply but there are other reasons.