The biannual Beijing housing fair is often considered a trend-setter for the real estate industry's performance in China.

The explosive credit growth over the past few months has propped up the sagging economy, but it may also plant the seed for an asset price bubble and inflation, according to experts.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, fell 1.2 percent year on year in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.

Electricity usage dropped at a slower pace in China during the first quarter of this year, thanks to the government's stimulus package which has helped boost industrial production.

The government's revenue fell 8.3 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter, as the economic downturn hurt corporate profits and recent tax cuts took effect.