7% 'new norm' for expansion

Think tank says economy started on two-year shift to lower GDP growth

A leading State think tank said on Friday that China's annual growth target will be around 7 percent in 2015, in line with economists' forecasts that the country's economic slowdown will continue next year.

Gross domestic product is expected to expand 7.4 percent in the fourth quarter, from a five-year low of 7.3 percent in the third quarter, said Yu Bin, director of research for the department of macroeconomic Research at the Development Research Center of the State Council, China's cabinet.