Jing Ulrich said the younger generation in China is eager to buy luxury goods and tends to consume on credit, which gives banks an opportunity to develop consumer credit services.

The country's expanding senior population are potential customers for service companies, travel agencies, hotel chains and insurance companies.

In India, where families will mainly spend on food, education and housing with their limited disposable incomes, she predicted business opportunities for department stores and supermarkets.

Consumer credit is still underdeveloped in China and India where banks prefer to loan money to companies rather than individual clients. But the situation will change as consumers in both countries gradually change their traditional attitudes towards debt, she said.

Mortgage loans will become popular in both countries due to booming real estate markets.

Bullish commodity markets are expected in both countries as a result of the continuous growth in demand for farm products and industrial raw materials.

However, arable land is shrinking at an appalling pace in China, while India's supply of water resources is restricted, she said.

China has been the biggest recipient of foreign direct investment among developing nations for 15 straight years.

Over the next five years, the country will give priority to the quality rather than quantity of foreign investment, according to its 11th five-year plan (2006-2010).

Foreign investors are encouraged to pour funds into modern agriculture, the service industry, high-tech and advanced manufacturing, and help upgrade the country's traditional industries.

The plan emphasizes environmental protection and the efficient use of natural resources, welcoming foreign investments in the control of water and air pollution and recycling.

The plan criticizes local governments that blindly seek foreign investment without relating it to a strategy.

It also notes that emerging foreign-owned monopolies in certain industries pose a potential threat to China's economic security.

Foreign businesses that abuse intellectual property right protection laws have adversely affected Chinese firms' capacity for independent innovation, it says.

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