Economy to remain stable through 2018

China's economic growth results are expected to remain stable not only in 2017 economic reports yet to be released but also in 2018, despite a slight decline in a major index measuring the expansion of the manufacturing sector in December, analysts said.

While there is some variation in the forecast, analysts said the country's GDP growth may register up to 6.9 percent for 2017.

The official manufacturing purchasing managers index, released on Sunday, dropped to 51.6 in December, compared with 51.8 in November, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.