China's miniature home builders cut down to size

Shenzhen, China

IN the face of an extended downturn after a decade-long property boom, China's miniature apartment builders are finally downsizing their ambitions.

China has experienced the most rapid urbanisation in human history - it is said to have used more cement in 2011-2013 than the US did in the entire 20th Century, and built twice as many homes in the decade to 2010 as exist in Britain in total.

Over the same period, home prices in m…