Lower exports, realty woes may hit GDP target

China's economic growth will slow to 7.2 percent in the current quarter, down from the previous three months, as domestic demand weakens, according to Song Guoqing, an academic with the People's Bank of China monetary policy advisory committee.

The nation's economy will probably expand 7.3 percent next year, Song told a forum in Beijing over the weekend.

Song's view was in contrast, however, with a prediction by Fan Jianping, chief economist at the State Information Center under the National Development and Reform Commission, who told an industry conference that growth is expected to be 7 percent in 2015, unless the central government releases stronger-than-expected stimulus measures.