A state-backed think tank in China predicts the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) will grow 6.9 percent in 2015, Chinese official news agency Xinhua reported.

A blue paper on the Chinese economy – released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on Monday – said the Chinese economic growth was likely to slow as institutional barriers such as a rigid household registration system and lack of human resources dragged down the GDP growth.

“The next five years will be critical for China’s economic transition to slower and steadier growth,” the report said. Measures should be taken to deal with a shortage in labour supply, slowing investment and changes in economic structures, it added.

In the first half of this year the Chinese economy expanded by 7 percent but most economic indicators in the first two months of the third quarter showed weaker economic performance, Xinhua reported.