China 2017 growth may further slow down: report

BEIJING -- China's economic growth may continue to slow in 2017 to 6.5 percent before possibly bottoming out in 2018, a new report showed Monday.

As China's economy showed signs of stabilization in the first three quarters with growth rate of 6.7 percent, the rate for the whole year may also register the same pace, according to a report by Renmin University of China (RUC) national academy of development and strategy.

"The year 2017 will be a year when China's economy continues the bottoming process," Mao Zhenhua, co-chair of the RUC institute of economic research, said while delivering the report, which forecast that growth in 2017 may further decline to 6.5 percent before possibly rebounding in 2018.

In the medium to long term, the bonuses from globalization, industrialization and a large population sustained growth for more than three decades, but they have been dwindling to different extents, Mao said.

Mao added that external demand will not recover substantially in the short term due to uncertainty in the United States and the effect of Brexit.

The government has set a target growth range of 6.5 -- 7 percent for 2016. In 2016-2020, China must realize average annual growth of at least 6.5 percent to meet the goal of doubling 2010 residential income and GDP.