Growth on slow track for rest of year: EIU

China's economic growth will probably slow further throughout 2014, after first-quarter GDP expansion dipped to the lowest level in 18 months, researchers with the Economist Intelligence Unit said on Wednesday.

The world's second-largest economy will expand about 7.3 percent for the full year, because the government's mini-stimulus package announced in early April won't support a faster pace.

"China's GDP growth in the first quarter was slightly below our estimate but still in an acceptable range," said Liu Qian, deputy director of China services at the EIU.