Earlier this month state media in China widely reported that property prices in Beijing had plummeted - almost overnight. The figures quoted in newspapers and on TV claimed the price of an average city apartment had dropped to around $230 per square foot – a fall of more than $110 per square foot or 30% - compared to a week earlier.
Now that's a huge drop any way you look at it - although it must be remembered it comes from a staggeringly high starting figure. And it still leaves the average house in the capital way above the purchasing power of most ordinary Beijing residents.
Chinese President Hu Jintao is heading to the United States this week for the first state visit to the White House since 1997. Will the leaders of the two largest economies come to any conclusions?