China’s housing boom has propelled it to the top of global construction, overtaking the US for the first time, as the country ploughed more than $1,000bn into new building projects last year.

Spending on building work in China soared during 2010 as government stimulus-fuelled demand drove up the cost of materials and labour. Meanwhile, construction prices in the US have declined steadily during the recession and the country invested $983bn last year, down from $1,500bn in 2005.

The rise to the top of global construction, which coincides with China’s displacement of Japan as the world’s second-largest economy, underlines a decade- long power shift in the industry from the mature markets of the US, Japan and western Europe to China, India and a clutch of smaller emerging economies.