Growth in China’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to slow to seven per cent next year from a forecast 7.3 per cent this year, partly due to weakness in global economies, a top Chinese government think tank said in a report published yesterday.

“The growth of the world economy may recover slightly in 2015, but it will be difficult to see it fully recovering from weakness seen since the global financial crisis,” the State Information Centre said.

“As such, our country’s economic growth will show a trend of gradual slowdown, and is forecast to grow around seven per cent in 2015,” it said in the report published in the official China Securities Journal.

China’s consumer price index (CPI) is expected to increase less than two per cent in 2015, compared with a forecast of more than two per cent this year, the think tank said.

Growth of exports is expected to improve slightly to seven per cent from a forecast six percent this year, it said.