HONG KONG (AP) — China’s economic growth slowed to 7.4 per cent in 2014, the weakest expansion in nearly a quarter century, and is forecast to slip further over the next two years, adding to headwinds for the global economy.

The numbers released yesterday are still miles ahead of growth rates in major industrialised economies, but represent a sharp decline from China’s sizzling double digit expansion in previous years. That adds to pressure on the country’s communist leaders as they try to prevent a sharper slowdown and job losses while overhauling the economy.

The 2014 performance was the slowest for the world’s second-biggest economy since 1990, when growth tumbled to 3.8 per cent after China faced economic sanctions because of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. It undershot the official full-year target of 7.5 per cent, the first miss since 1998, according to analysts.

Economists expect the slowdown to deepen, clouding the outlook for the world economy as China downshifts from an era of supercharged growth that fuelled demand for everything from Australian iron ore to European luxury goods.

China’s slowdown is partly a function of Beijing’s efforts to transform the economy by weaning it off over-reliance on heavy industry and trade in favour of domestic consumption. But the transition has been buffeted by a range of problems, including a slumping property market and uneven exports.

Some analysts expect China to gradually dole out stimulus in 2015 to prevent growth from fading too fast. But they don’t expect a major spending splurge as debt is already at worrying levels after the credit-fuelled response to the 2008 global crisis.

Consumption should receive a boost from the slump in global oil prices, but is unlikely to fully offset the slowdown of investment in areas already suffering from overcapacity such as property and heavy industry, he said.

Chinese officials have tried to lower expectations by saying growth below the official target would be acceptable.

President Xi Jinping said last year that the economy has entered a “new normal.” But a surprise interest rate cut by policymakers in November indicated they were worried about a politically dangerous spike in job losses.

Growth in the fourth quarter of last year was 7.3 per cent, unchanged from the previous quarter, which was the slowest quarterly expansion in five years. China’s economy grew 7.7 per cent in 2013.

At a news conference, Ma Jiantang, the director of the National Bureau of Statistics, said that last year’s growth “was within a reasonable range” while growth in 2015 is expected to be “stable.”

“However, we should also be aware that the domestic and international situations are still complicated and economic development is facing difficulties and challenges,” he said.