domestic consumption. Growth accelerated in 2017 for the first time in four years, recovering from the slowdown of 2016. Robust growth in 2017 was mainly attributed to the momentum of government policy support, strengthening external demand, and progress in domestic reforms. Inflation remains stable at around 2% and fiscal policy has remained expansionary. Growth in the Chinese economy is likely to decelerate over the next five years as the growth momentum from the fiscal stimulus ceases to have an effect on the economy. Also, the supervisory and regulatory actions that are being taken to guard against financial sector risks, together with overcapacity reduction, is likely to result in lower growth in the medium term. According to the latest IMF World Economic Outlook, average growth in the period 2018-2022 will be 6%, decelerating from 6.7% in 2017 to 5.8% in 2022. In 2018, growth is expected to slow down to 6.4% with domestic demand increasing by 6.9%. With the structural transformation now underway, the Chinese economy will become less reliant on investment and exports. During the five-year period, the share of capital formation in GDP will decline from 43.7% in 2017 to 41.4% in 2022. The current account surplus will also decline from 1.4% of GDP in 2017 to 0.4% in 2022.

China’s economy continues to transform to a more sustainable growth driven by domestic consumption. Growth is expected to stabilise at 6.7% y/y in 2017 after the slowdown in 2016 driven by the accommodative fiscal policy and the recovery of external demand. In 2017, domestic consumption is expected to improve by 8.6% y/y from 8.4% y/y in 2016, and exports will rebound by for the second consecutive year. Over the next five years, China will continue to transition to a slower, but a more sustainable growth. Inflation is expected to stabilise at 2% y/y in 2017, and improve to 2.6% y/y by 2020. Credit growth will slow down reflecting the regulatory measures of the Chinese government and the cooling real estate market in tier-one and “hot” tier-two cities. Domestic demand will continue to strengthen even though at a slower pace. Over the next five years, China’s current account surplus will be declining steadily due to the increase in the imports of goods, and the continuing increase in tourism outlays.

China’s aviation sector is dominated by China’s four largest carriers – namely China Southern Airlines (CSA), Air China, China Eastern Airlines (CEA) and Hainan Airlines – which between them control about 80% of the market in terms of total RTK. They face little competition from foreign carriers due to airport capacity limits and airspace restrictions. Overseas carriers often enter into codeshare agreements with China’s major airlines. According to the CAAC, China had a total of 58 airlines at the end of 2017, including 43 state-controlled and 15 privately-owned. Among them there were eight allcargo airlines, ten joint venture airlines and seven publicly-listed airlines.

China’s economy continues to make the transition to a more sustainable type of growth driven by domestic consumption. Growth accelerated in 2017 for the first time in four years, recovering from a slowdown in 2016. The robust growth in 2017 was mainly attributed to the momentum of government policy support, increasing external demand, and progress in domestic reforms. Inflation remains stable at around 2% and fiscal policy remained expansionary. Growth in China is expected to decelerate over the next five years as the growth momentum from the fiscal stimulus ceases to have an effect on the economy. Also, the supervisory and regulatory actions underway to limit financial sector risks, along with and overcapacity reductions, will result in lower growth in the medium term. According to the latest IMFWorld Economic Outlook , the average growth in the period 2018-2022 will be 6%, decelerating from 6.7% in 2017 to 5.8% in 2022. In 2018, growth is expected to slow down to 6.4% with the domestic demand increasing by 6.9%. With the structural transformation currently underway, the Chinese economy will become less reliant on investment and exports. During the five-year period 2018-2022, the share of capital formation will decline from 43.7% in 2017 to 41.4% in 2022. The current account surplus will also decline from 1.4% of GDP in 2017 to 0.4% in 2022.

Russian and Chinese companies are set to play a larger role in Egypt's infrastructure landscape in the coming years, gradually eroding the market share of traditionally dominant domestic companies. Egypt's proven public-private partnership framework will continue to offer international companies an avenue to gain exposure in the country's infrastructure sector. Egypt's challenging macroeconomic environment will impel a gradual diversification of the country's infrastructure competitive landscape, as the government's fiscal woes deepen its reliance on foreign investment to deliver critical infrastructure projects. Mirroring growing bilateral ties, we expect countries like China and Russia in particular to emerge as key financiers of Egyptian infrastructure assets, and subsequently, for Chinese and Russian construction companies to thereby increase their market share in the coming years. Despite the growing presence of Chinese and Russian firms, international investors will still be able to capitalise on a robust public-private partnership (PPP) framework in capturing contract opportunities, especially in higher value-added roles, such as consulting, design and equipment supply, where we expect firms in developed markets to retain a competitive advantage.

In a world where national oil companies have successfully managed the process of generating upstream activity and revenues while leveraging the expertise of international oil companies, Ecuador has struggled to find a balance between its national interests and international shareholder expectations. This has rendered China an increasingly dominant player in Ecuador's extractive sector over the past several years.

Data centers are the backbone of online businesses operations and internet-using consumers. The growth in data centers is aided due to the increased usage of the internet for personal and business purposes by consumers through smartphones and high-speed broadband connectivity. Western Europe is the largest market in terms of data center operations, and it is continuing to grow because of the growth in the consumption of data by end-users. The internet penetration in countries such as Western Europe is growing at an annual rate of around 1%, whereas the same is growing around 2% in Eastern Europe. This rate is likely to increase further as the adoption of smartphones and handheld connected devices is growing, thereby increasing the data consumption rate. The growth of social media is another major factor for the rise in the internet penetration in the market, and this is likely to continue during the forecast period.

The popularity of smartphones, the rise of the social media, and the growing consumption of internet-based services such as e-commerce are transforming the APAC region, leading to strong internet penetration across several countries. India and China are the two major countries driving growth for data center development in the APAC region and have a high potential for continued growth during the forecast period. The internet penetration in China and India is expected to grow to over 75% and 60%, respectively, by 2023.

Data centers are the backbone of online business operations and consumers. The growth in data centers is aided due to the increased usage of the internet for personal and business purposes by consumers through smartphones and high-speed broadband connectivity. The Americas is the largest market in terms of data center operations, and it is continuing to grow because of the growth in the consumption of data by end-users. The internet penetration in countries such as the US and Canada is growing at an annual rate of 1%, whereas the same is growing about 5% annually in Latin American countries. This rate is likely to increase further with the adoption of smartphones and handheld connected devices is growing, thereby increasing the data consumption rate. The growth of social media is another major factor for the rise in the internet penetration in the market, and this is likely to continue during the forecast period.

Data centers are built, operated, and maintained to process a vast quantity of data generated by customers and business processes. The number of people accessing the internet has grown significantly over the past decade. It reached 4.1 billion in 2017 from 1.5 billion in 2008. Consequently, the quantity of data generated has also grown by over 50 times because of the increased use of desktop systems, the high penetration of smartphone, and the rise in social media, wearable devices, and connected devices.