Top China Think Tank Predicts 2017 Growth to Slide to 6.5%

(Beijing) — China's growth may slow to about 6.5% in 2017, an annual report by the country's top government think tank forecast, dismissing concerns about a hard landing but warning of a potential "regional financial crisis" as debts pile up.

The world's second-largest economy is widely expected to grow by 6.7% this year.

Expansion is predicted to slip to around 6.5% due to sustained weakness in foreign demand, the declining ability of investment to drive growth, and a slowing in consumption increase, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) said in its 2017 Economy Blue Book, which was released Monday.