"One of the advantages of these locations is that they face less competition," he said.

Liu said the worry for the major retailers was inflation taking off and reaching 5 percent.

One of the major opportunities for foreign multinationals in China could be private healthcare. The government is said to be planning to allow Chinese people to use their yibao, or public health insurance, at private hospitals.

Roberta Lipson, who launched China's first foreign-invested hospital, Beijing United Family Hospital, in 1997, said it could transform the market.

"It would be a measure that would be welcomed by consumers, private health insurance companies and by private hospital investors, " she said.

Howard Abe, Asia Pacific retail and consumer industries practice leader for management consultants A.T. Kearney in Shanghai, said Chinese consumption patterns make it difficult for consumption-boosting measures to work.

"Chinese consumers behave differently from those in the West. They tend to wait for sales and just go out and buy multiple items all at once.

In the West, people buy items on a more regular basis, every month or two," he said.

He added that foreign multinationals remain optimistic about trading conditions in the China market.

"Last year, for many of them, it was like printing money. There was no holding back," he said.

Multinationals in other sectors are optimistic about economic activity in China this year.

"We will see recovery in China one year or even more earlier than the rest of the world," he said.

The energy sector also continues to present a number of opportunities for foreign multinationals.

Chen Liming, China president of BP, the UK energy giant, said opportunities abounded.

"China has done great work in energy conservation and pollution control and the country still has big potential in this area, " he said.

Wu at the Guanghua School of Management said it was inevitable that China would remain a strong market for foreign multinationals for some time to come because they offer the brands that Chinese consumers want.

"As more and more Chinese people move up into white collar and professional middle class groups, the more they will demand quality products and the foreign multinationals offer better brand name recognition," he said.