In response, some firms are now investing more in development to cater to Chinese consumers' growing sophistication.

"We have reformulated our products, we have invested in innovation and renovation very much like we do in Europe," Paul Bulcke, CEO at Nestle SA, told reporters after the world's biggest packaged food firm warned in mid-October it would miss its long-term growth target this year.

China's Premier Li Keqiang said that Beijing's policymakers estimated consumption in China's vast market was still only half its capacity.

The problem is that consumers are not yet picking up the slack from falling industrial demand.

"The rapidly rising consumer spending has yet to offset the decline in traditional industrial investments," Ulrich Spiesshofer, CEO at Swiss engineering group ABB, said after reporting a fall in net profit and revenues for the third quarter.

Healthcare is one promising area to target as the Chinese consumer grows older, richer and better informed.

"The underlying fundamentals haven't changed," Jeff Bornstein, chief financial officer at General Electric, said in October of GE's healthcare technology business.

"There is still nearly 1.4 billion people. They're still building hospitals. The private market in China has grown 15 percent to 20 percent a quarter," he added.

Pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche AG, which bucked the trend by increasing third-quarter sales in China, said the market for its mainstay cancer drugs was growing strongly.

This helped offset struggling sales for older products facing generic competition.

"What we're really seeing is our strategic products that are just beginning to really find their way to patients in China are growing very well, double-digit growth overall," Dan O'Day, Roche's pharmaceuticals chief, said.

Flatlining car sales have prompted global car makers such as BMW to intensify training programs, teaching dealers, who had previously derived the bulk of their income from selling new cars, to maximize revenue from auto financing, repairs and insurance.

Services have been one of the few recent economic bright spots, with a private sector survey showing the fastest pace of expansion in three months.

ABB's Spiesshofer said the company had opened a new service center to supply spare parts, maintenance and consulting services for oil and gas, chemical, utility, metals, transport and infrastructure sectors.

"Historically, customers have not yet taken out the service offering as strongly," he said.

"We are pushing that very hard," he added.