Warren Buffet once said, "The great personal fortunes in this country weren't built on a portfolio of fifty companies. They were built by someone who identified one wonderful business." But it hardly applies in China, especially as the real state boom creates wealth in an unmatched speed.

Haitian Group, owned by the Zhang family in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, has been very successful with its "one wonderful business" - machinery, including plastic injection molding machines and other industrial equipment.

This year, Haitian established a real estate subsidiary with 125 million yuan ($18.4 million) of registered capital, according to the National Business Daily.

It's not uncommon for Chinese companies that have healthy cash flow from other businesses to dive into real estate. In Zhejiang province, the most entrepreneurial region in China, six of the top 100 privately owned companies have their core business in real estate. But more than 60 others also participate in real estate development beyond their core businesses.

Between 1998 and 2005, the average profit margin of the real estate industry was just 2 percentage points higher than that of the manufacturing sector. However, the gap quickly widened since 2006, and the gross margin of real estate topped 30 percent.

Meantime, manufacturing profitability goes in the other direction, as cost hikes, exchange rate changes, distressed export market, and growing competition further squeeze manufacturers.

Driving the capitalist economy is the search for profits, and it holds true for China.