GDP growth to be 7%: CASS

China's economic growth is expected to be around 7 percent year-on-year in 2015, down from 7.3 percent in 2014, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) said in a blue book published Monday.

Sluggish external demand, industrial overcapacity and high inventories in the property sector will weigh down the growth momentum, according to the book.

CASS estimated that the country's fixed-assets investment would rise by 14.7 percent year-on-year to 59.4 trillion yuan ($9.6 trillion) in 2015, and said investment's role in driving GDP growth will be weakening.

China's exports and imports volume will see year-on-year growth of 6.9 percent and 4.6 percent respectively in 2015, it noted.